Xander Harris & The Ultimate Gloves
by Tubbs McGee
Summary: Just because you wear a pair of Gloves doesn't mean you gain superpowers, right? When suiting up one night for patrol, Xander gets more then he bargained for that will lead him to meeting his childhood hero, err, Heroes... Only, in the Ultimate Verse
1. Time to Suit up!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything but the plot, I'm just borrowing the characters and making them jump for my amusement. Buffy and Co belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy, the Ultimate Universe is owned by Disney and Marvel.

**Spoilers:** Everything Buffy Season 1-7, Angel 1-5 and somewhere before Ultimate Spider-Man #060.

**Author's Note:** I'm just trying this story idea out, haven't got it all figured out yet. I probably should try and continue my other unfinished stories, but this one just kinda kept nagging me to write it. It will eventually take place in the Ultimate Universe, but that won't happen for a few more chapters, expect a little bit of angst, I LOVE it, but others might not.

**Pairings:** Maybe B/X, not sure how I'll go writing that... It'll be part of the angst I guess.

* * *

"I'm sick and tired of your complaining" she said with a sigh as she opened the weapons chest.

"But I've paid my dues," Xander whined. "We all have. We should get to party some more."

Buffy sighed again pausing in her rummaging through the box of weapons to turn a stern look at her eye patched friend.

"Xand " Buffy stood before continuing. "You know me. I Slay. We save the world. We party. But it's been almost a year."

"10 Months, Two Weeks and Five days." Xander said looking at his watch, when he looked back at the Slayer she had a shocked look on her face. "What?"

"You've been counting?"

"Hell Yeah! We deserved the down time," Xander gave her a lopsided grin. "Especially you. You died twice, almost three times when you got stabbed while we were down in the Hellmouth. There's hundreds of Slayers now, most of the retired and secluded Watchers that survived the purge are returning to help train them. If that doesn't get you a free trip to Disneyland, well, I don't know what will."

Buffy smiled at that, letting out a small laugh before catching herself and playfully slapping her friend on the shoulder in frustration.

"Yes, it does get the free trip to Disneyland, remember? We went on Splash Mountain like fifty times! Willow was sick on the eighteenth ride, Dawn fell asleep around ride twenty-three, Faith got kicked off for smoking at ride thirty, Andrew passed out at ride thirty-nine and you and me only got to fifty because we got told to leave because you kept trying to talk every girl who got on to flash their boobs when the photo gets taken."

"Hey, I still maintain that all those women were gonna do the flashing long before I started talking to them."

"Over twenty women flashed Xander!" Buffy crossed her arms.

"Yeah..." he got a faraway look in his eye. If only I got to keep the photos as proof..."

"Hey!" Buffy clapped her hands, shocking Xander out of his lust filled daydreams.

"Huh-Wha...?" a goofy grin crossed his face as the thoughts of bare breasts began to fade.

"Focus," Buffy pointed a finger at her friend. "Giles and the others need our help; Dawn's gone to study with that old Watcher with all the dead language knowledge, Willow is working with that Technopagan Coven, learning their craft and seeing what they can do to help all the outposts. All the Sunnydale Slayerettes are out in the field helping to gather the newbie's, Andrew is on his way to learning to be a 'full blown Watcher', or at least that's what Giles tells me and Faith has been floating from post to post with a couple of Slayers helping where they can before they come back here to the school you've been building here in Cleveland."

"You mean Sunnydale 2.0." Xander laughed.

"Xand..."

"Yeah, yeah... I understand. It's just, it won't be the same. You know, cos everyone is stretched out so far... I just want the old gang back together." Xander sighed. "I miss them all, at least when we were goofing off it was like they were just somewhere else having fun themselves... Or when I was working on the school it just felt like back in Sunnydale, me the workin' man, you the stay at home Slayer," he smiled at Buffy, a slight look of outrage on her face that turned into a blush as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "But if I go out and patrol... It means... We didn't really win in the end." He slumped down into an armchair, staring at his hands. "That Anya..." He choked out.

"Yeah, I know." Buffy sat down on the armrest as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"She died Buff," he looked up at her. "And I'm never gonna get her back. And when we go on patrol, I think it will finally hit me... She died in Sunnydale, and despite her sacrifice, we're still fighting..."

"I miss her too Xander," she smiled sadly. "I miss them all..."

"You know what?" Xander asked. "You know what I thought was gonna happen when Willow performed the Big Slay Spell?" Buffy shook her head. "I thought we would get our lives back. That we could rest. I believed you were gonna retire..."

"I've thought about it," Buffy admitted. "But..."

"Yeah..." Xander said looking off into the distance again, only this time breasts weren't on his mind, this time he thought about all the people who wouldn't be saved if they didn't enter the fight once again. "Maybe we could...?"

"Thought of that, they'll find us, plus I don't look good in a wig..." Buffy also looked off into the distance, her mind playing the same thing over and over again. Friends and family she had saved, and the few she hadn't. "What if we...?"

"Nah," Xander shook his head. "Where are we gonna find a pair of Nun's habit's this time of night? Particularly one in a Women's husky?"

"Woman's husky?"

"No matter what I wear, you're never gonna hide my broad shoulders and muscles." Xander said with a smile, flexing his arms.

Buffy smiled at that before flashing a frown. "God, we're been hanging out alone together for too long."

"Yeah" Xander sighed with a laugh.

"So No hiding. These are our lives Xand."

"Yeah," Xander repeated. "I guess we'll just have to be 'Scoobies for Life' then." He shrugged.

"Scoobies for Life." Buffy agreed standing up. "We are now officially back on active duty."

"Yay..." Xander groaned, which Buffy gave him a stern look, lightly slapping him on the arm again. "I mean, Yay!" he shook his arms about half heartily.

"That's better," She smirked.

"You'd think we could have gone back on patrol once the construction was done at the Campus." He groused. "If we're not gonna party I would much rather be going over the plans of the new Magic Box, lots of equipment has been arriving lately and not a hell of a lot of staff yet."

"It takes time for Giles to hire people," she looked him up and down. "Unless you wanna run through all those applications?"

"No, no, no, no, no," he waved her off. " 'English stuffy' is always the best bet to do the Admin stuff. My 'Cali Cool' is more suited to the manual labor."

"Cali Cool?"

"What? I'm cool!" He said with a smile. "Well, my mom always said I was cool..."

"It's a New Hellmouth, Xander," she rolled her eyes. "We need to get our bearings before we start getting the school up and running, don't you think?"

"Yeah, yeah... Scoobies for Life, champions for good." He raised his fist in triumph.

"Like I said, it s a New Hellmouth... So you re gonna be a little rusty-"

"Me? Rusty?" Xander interrupted the Slayer with a smirk of his own, rising from his seat. He moved passed her and crouched to rummage through the open weapons chest his smirk turning into a grin. "Ha, I'll show you rusty, ya old Slayer you." he said picking up a pair of leather tactical fingerless gloves, a short sword and a handful of stakes.

Buffy smirked as well at his playful ribbing as she picked up her own handful of stakes, a small axe and a long sword. "Who you calling old, cos I don't know Xand, all that partying..." she clicked her tongue at her friend as she tucked the stakes into her many different jacket pockets. You've gotten a little soft round the middle, maybe you re afraid you're not as good as you were back in Sunnydale?" she laughed as she secured the axe in the small of her back before twirling the long sword around herself, checking the length and weight of the blade.

"Hey, I'll have you know, I didn't need as much saving towards the end of Sunnydale as I did back when we first met." Xander laughed as he placed each stake on his person, one in his waistband, one in his back pants pocket, another in his right boot and finally one up his left sleeve. He tucked the short sword under his arm as he put the gloves on, first his left, then the right, flexing his fingers as he made sure they fit right before tightening the Velcro straps on the back of each hand.

"Yes Xander, you're right, you didn't need as much saving as before towards the end of Sunnydale," Buffy nodded, turning to exit the room. "But you did need saving sometimes!" She shot over her shoulder.

"Oh that hurt Buff!" Xander laughed following his friend.

"Come on, it might be fun..."

"Ha!" he laughed. "Fun she says!"

As both self-proclaimed 'Scoobies for Life' left the house and into the dark night neither saw the faint glow that periodically flashed from the gloves on Xander's hands. Magicks powered up inside the gloves along with circuitry and tech for the first time since they were scrapped almost three years ago by their maker. Their power sources long removed, now finding a much more powerful energy to draw from, a power that would eventually fade.

"So Where to, oh Slayer-of-mine?" Xander asked after he had backed the car out of the driveway and they were on the road.

"East Cleveland Cemetery," Buffy rolled her eyes. "There are a couple fresh graves we can check out before doing the big sweeps of Mayville and then Lake View. And I'm not your Slayer."

"Giles wanted me as your Watcher, so I'm gonna... Ah... Watch." he said making a right turn towards their destination.

"I don't remember him saying that."

"Yeah he did." he said as he turned the car onto a busy street.

"No, he didn't."

"Yes, he did."

"When? Where was I?" Buffy asked in a tone that dripped with disbelief.

"Right next to me. You said it was fine, and then we got on the plane and flew out here."

Buffy turned to her friend, a confused look on her face as she tried to recall that event.

"I remember everyone seeing us off, and then Giles said that he chose you to be my back up because you were supervising the construction of the Campus and the only person left who knew how to work with me, but-"

"Yeah, see you remember." Xander said as he pulled up to the cemetery's entrance and shut the engine off. "I'm your Watcher, You're my Slayer."

"Back up," Buffy corrected as they got out of the car. "He said Back Up. How does that make you my Watcher? You get tied up and tortured all the time, sometimes by women you try to date."

"Hey, that was one time," Xander defended as Buffy just gave him a look. "OK, fine, twice. But that second time the girl thought I was into that kind of kink because of all my scars. Besides, you try saying no to a girl in a gimp mask and latex underwear while she's holding a thick leather riding crop. It can't be done."

"Freak" Buffy laughed heading for the large gate of the cemetery.

"That's Mr. Watcher Freak, Sir." Xander corrected his friend with a salute as he laughed as well.

* * *

They patrolled. They grappled a few times with some evil. Even managed to dust some Vamps. It was surprisingly fun. Then he had to open his big mouth...

"Man my arms are tired." He rotated his arms and shoulders about as he complained. "Maybe you were right; I might be a little out of shape."

"Well it is what happens when you party for almost a year." Buffy gave a side glance to her friend as they walked down a row of graves towards the exit of Lake View Cemetery and the end of their night.

"My arms feel like I'm holding the Buster sword from Final Fantasy VII..." he said holding his short sword out in front of himself. His arm shook before he let it fall at his side.

"The What from Final What?" Buffy quirked an eyebrow.

"A sword from a video game. Big, huge, almost the size of a diving board."

"So, big?"

"Yep." they laughed together. Xander stopped walking and turned to his friend. "OK Buff, you were right, twice."

"How was I right, let alone twice?"

"One is, yeah, I might be out of practice..."

"Practice implies, you know, actual practice." Buffy smirked.

"True," Xander returned the smirk. "So... Train me."

"What?"

"Train me Buff." Xander looked at her seriously. "If I'm gonna be your Watcher-"

"Back up!"

"Whatever," he continued. "I might actually have to learn how to fight... Properly."

"But you can fight." Buffy sat down on a low headstone.

"No, I know how to swing my arms about, I know how to get hit in the head without suffering a concussion," he sat down next to her, looking down at the sword that hung limply in his hands. "I'm a brawler at my best and a punching bag at my worst..."

He took a deep breath through his nose to give him time to think of the right words when he was hit with a strong smell of Damp Earth and a slight 'Something died close by' hint to it. He ignored the smell as he continued.

"I should have asked you sooner," he looked to the Slayer. "I should have been learning all the way back in high school... But I never knew how to ask you... Or Giles for that matter. But now that this is gonna be our lives 24/7, I really need to learn to fight."

Buffy was silent for a bit, letting his words sink in. Finally she said, "About time..."

"What?"

"Ever since the attack on the Vineyard and your..." She left the words unsaid. "I've been waiting for you to suggest something."

"Really?" Xander looked at her puzzled.

"I spoke to Giles about it..." This time it was her turn to look at her hands. "I wanted to sideline you; I thought you were useless to us... Unless you learned to handle yourself." She shrugged slightly. "I wanted to confront you about it but, Giles said that you had to come to me. It had to be your choice."

"Huh? Wish someone had told me sooner," he looked away from his friend. "Could have spent the last month training..."

"Yep," Buffy smiled. "But you wanted to waste time having fun and building the new Magic Box."

"Well, having fun at least..." Xander smiled.

Silence fell again on the two friends, neither looking at the other.

"And two was?" Buffy broke the silence, turning to the one eyed man.

"Oh, Two... Well, two was... he looked at his friend. You know, this was actually-"

A very loud scream made both their heads turn to their right.

"-Fun." he finished.

"You know that's your fault, right?" Buffy said standing and pulling a stake out of her jacket, swinging her sword through the air and running towards the scream.

"But-but you said it would be fun back at the house!" he called after her before letting out a sigh. "And 'Big Mouth Xander' strikes again." He groaned before rushing after the Slayer.

The scream had come from a girl as she was thrown to the ground, weeping as two Vamps stood over her, laughing with glee as they moved in for the kill.

"Hey!" Buffy yelled rushing towards them. "Why don't you leave her alone, I'm much more fun to play with."

Both Vamps dodged her incoming blows, Vamp one ducking under the swing of the sword, Vamp two deflecting the stake she thrust at his chest.

"Slayer!" Vamp one hissed.

"Slayee-" Buffy quipped back looking between the two of them. "-Ees, Slayees? Slays? What's the plural of Slayee?"

"Less quip, more fight!" Xander called over his shoulder dropping his sword on the ground as he crouched next to the frightened girl, shaking his head softly as he felt a small buzzing at the back of his head.

"Not my Waaaaaatchhhhhhher!" Buffy sing-songed before attacking.

She moved, the sword swinging through the air like a blur of silver in the low light of the moon. Both Vamps let out snarls as they dodged the attacks, moving just slightly faster than the experienced Slayer. The three opponents moved as one, the Vamps landing blows as Buffy swung her weapons and hit nothing but air. Xander watched in surprise as Buffy began to get angry at the Vamps, her rage apparent by the loud grunts of effort she put into the fight. The buzzing at the back of his mind was still there, growing larger and larger as he watched before he shook himself out of his stupor remembering the girl they were rescuing.

"Are you OK?" Xander asked the girl.

"What... What are...?" the girl whimpered, pointing at the fighting trio.

"Nothing you need to worry about," he looked the girl over.

Apart from some dirt and mud in a few places she seemed to be ok, just scared... Except... He could smell something again. It had that kind of earthy smell, earth and maybe something dead? Something dead with what he could now tell was a slight hint of... Copper? Pennies?

"Can you walk?" he asked.

"Yes... I-I... Who is that girl?" she asked staring intently at Buffy.

The Slayer moved, her sword lost in the fray, two of her stakes broken as she now played defense rather than attack, the two Vamps moving as one against her.

"Her?" Xander looked to Buffy. "She's the Slayer." Worry was in his voice as he watched the two Vamps rain blows towards his friend. His nose seemed to twitch as the earthy-death-copper smell grew stronger.

"Oh, we heard there was a Slayer in town..." the girl turned to Xander, "So, does that make you her Watcher?"

"Yes, no, uh, maybe... Wait, how did you...?" he asked, the buzzing in his head flared to a loud roar before stopping when he turned to face the girl, but she wasn't a girl anymore, her yellow eyes lit up as a large fang filled grin brightened up her once frightened face.

"Goody!" The copper smell filled his nostrils as she threw her head back and laughed, clapping her hands cheerfully before grabbing his neck with a hand. "In that case I'll let you watch her get drained before I eat you."

The stake was in his hand before he could think, Sunnydale instincts driving the wood in his hand towards her chest. She slapped the hand away with another laugh, the stake falling from his grip. Instincts drove him again as he brought his other hand up, a fresh stake aimed at her heart. With one more giggle she grabbed his hand, pried the wood from his grasp and snapped it into kindling. She hissed at him, the copper smell washed over him and he finally realised he was smelling her breath, or what passed for a Vampires breath. She pulled him closer, an arm moving around his neck as she held him in place without a single blow exchanged between the two.

"Now, now Watcher," she tut-tutted him like a misbehaving child, "It's time to Watch."

'This doesn't happen.' he thought to himself as he gasped for breath, the headlock tight around his neck, the earthy death smell encasing him. 'We don't get laid out by just three Vamps. Well, I do, but not Buffy.' He struggled against the Vampiress' grip as he watched Buffy being beat on, her body being tossed back and forth between the two demons. 'And Holy Crap does she smell! How did she take all my stakes? Aren't the girls you save supposed to be actual girls and not blood sucking demons?' he thought.

Maybe everyone was right, he was a demon magnet, only they forgot to mention all the demons were girls.

Seriously, all of his stakes were gone!

Wait, he still had one, in his boot. His mind raced. How was he to get to it? He struggled against the Vamp, trying to bend his body down to his boot.

"Don't struggle," she purred. "It'll all be over soon."

Buffy was bloodied. Moving between the two Vamps as they each landed two blows for her every one.

He had to get out of the headlock, he had to help Buffy. He had been joking earlier, he knew he wasn't her Watcher; he was just trying to lighten the mood. It was what he did. He wouldn't be Xander is he didn't. One little joke and he was going to have to watch one of his best friends die before joining her. If only he had asked to be trained all those years ago instead of tonight. Only his luck could be this bad.

Then a thought came to his mind.

'Off with her head!' the thought told him in a surprisingly accurate impression of Ed Wynn; although why the voice of the mad hatter would say that he had no idea.

Without knowing where the thought came from Xander reached behind him and made to grab, scratch and hit the Vamp who held him.

"Hey, Hey!" the girl hissed as she tried to fight off his pathetic attack. "What, are you twelve little boy?"

"No!" Xander gasped back then he growled. "I'm a man!"

Then it happened.

He made two fists and two loud *SNIKT* sounded, followed by a stinging pain that shot from his knuckles on both hands.

And just as quickly The Vamp turned to dust around him.

The *SNIKT* sound was heard again, his knuckles stinging for a moment before the pain disappeared.

Now free he moved fast, the stake in his boot forgotten, and his hands on autopilot. He moved them before himself, both middle fingers on both of his hands moved to touch his palms as he aimed his wrists at the two Vamps fighting Buffy.

Two soft *THWIP's* sounded as a whitish-grey thread like substance fired from his wrists. The long strands hit each Vamp, one square in the back, the other in its shoulder, both cords stuck in place. With a quick flick of both hands he was holding onto the rope like substance, as it now appeared as if it was formed from six strands, three close together, the other three twirling and intertwining around them. He yanked hard on the ropes as he got to his feet. The two Vamps were jerked from their position over Buffy to land in a pile in front of the one eyed man.

"Xander!" Buffy gasped for breath, her bruised face aching as she watched in amazement at his actions, the two Vamps now getting to their feet.

Before he knew what he was doing he yelled two phrases before engaging the Vamps.

"Flame On!" he called as his left hand was engulfed in fire. "It's Clobbering Time!" he said in a gruff bellow as his right hand changed from five fingered flesh to a four fingered living orange rock that moved all the way up his arm and ended sharply at his elbow.

The two Vamps exchanged a quick look of surprise between themselves before jumping at Xander. Sunnydale instinct surged in him again, his right hand punched one Vamp in the gut sending it flying back several feet into the air and crashing into a gravestone, the death marker crumbling from the impact. His left hand moved with a fiery blur hitting the other Vamp in the chin, a large patch of burnt flesh formed on its face as it staggered back from the blow.

Xander didn't miss a beat, autopilot still engaged as he yelled "Flame off!" his hands returning to normal. Grabbing the burnt Vamp by the neck, he lifted the demon up off the ground, the Vamps eyes wide as Xander sneered at it, a feral grin on his face. Buffy gasped again, her body frozen in shock as she watched the burnt Vamps head begin to glow a pulsating, fluorescent pink that she could swear was moving with Xander's heartbeat. With another yell Xander threw the Vamp, the demon landing on top of its still dazed companion amongst the gravestones remains. Breathing heavily Xander's palms began to glow with a clean, bright white light, the buzz at the back of his head was back and his eyes went wide as he suddenly knew what was about to happen.

"Buffy! Get down!" he yelled before hitting the dirt, his arms over his head.

Buffy had just enough time to look from Xander to the fallen Vampires. The burnt Vamp's fluorescent pink head pulsed more rapidly, before her eyes went wide as her Slayer senses tingled and she too took cover. The Vamp s head exploded violently, dusting both Vamps in the process and showering the two Scoobies with marble, dust and dirt. When Buffy got to her feet again Xander was kneeling on the ground, both palms up in his lap as his hands shook with power.

Two circles of light were growing brighter and brighter in Xander's palms as he muttered to himself. "Please stop, please stop, please stop, please stop..."

He stared at his hands, the gloves seemingly now gone, replaced with two gantlets made of red and gold metal. Each palm held a round circled looking outlet, each glowed bright white, power seeming to surge from them.

"Xander?" Buffy stepped forward, reaching for her friend.

"Don't!" Xander flinched away from her. "S-so tired..."

A loud whine rose up from his hands as they shook harder. Xander suddenly let out a loud yell before two pulses of energy fired from the gauntlets and up into the air, flying high into the dark night sky like twin beams from a pair of searchlights.

With a soft whimper Xander looked at Buffy. "W-what in the 'Stan Lee' just happened...?"

Buffy was about to answer with a shake of her head and an 'I don't know' when the one eyed man collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

Please review and I'll continue the story.


	2. Dreams & Powers Part 1

**Disclaimer in Chapter One - Time to Suit Up!**

**Author's Notes:** This chapter was gonna be much longer but I decided to split it into two. Hopefully I will get the next part up in a few days. Not many questions answered in this one, look for those in the second part.

Enjoy.

* * *

Buffy stared, her own body aching, at Xander's prone body on the ground.

'Where had that come from?' she thought as she gingerly stepped closer.

The Slayer checked his pulse, followed by his breathing. Both seemed normal to her, except... He was cold. His body temperature was dropping, his shoulders and arms starting to shiver. She took her coat off; her body gave a protest as she removed it from her bruised form and put it over him. The small garment didn't fit him but seemed to help as his shivering subsided slightly. Then she noticed his hands again. They were glowing, softly pulsing every now and then, it looked warm and yet cold all at the same time. She reached out to touch one of them, lifting his hand up to get a better look.

The leather gloves he wore were fading in and out of sight on his hands, one second, black leather and white fingertips, then they would fade for a few seconds and white flesh with bloodied and cut knuckles appeared. On closer inspection of the cuts the Slayer could see three sharp, metal, knifelike things poking out a few millimetres from his flesh. As she watched they slowly began to grow between his knuckles, finally stopping about an inch long.

"And I thought weird things only happened to him in Sunnydale!" Buffy sighed with a whimper.

She patted her friends head, his skin was almost ice cold to the touch. Frowning to herself she picked him up into a fireman's carry, her battered body easily supporting him as she let out a groan at his weight. He was heavier then he looked, her Slayer strength accommodating for his surprising build.

"I was only joking when I said you were 'soft around the middle', augh."

* * *

_Everything was covered in snow; they thought it would mask their trail. He ignored the cold as he ran. He had lost the feeling in his feet four miles ago when he had cut through the small stream following their scent. He laughed bitterly to himself and sniffed the air. There, to the right! He was closing in on them, and they had no idea. No idea what they had unleashed. There was a reason he was named after an animal that's ferocity and strength were know to take down prey several times larger than themselves._

_What else could you call him?_

_Bounding from foot to hand and back again he ran like the animal he was deep down. They had used him. Left him for dead. No one did that, no one! They would pay for what they did. He could see it in his mind, he could see the blood, he could smell it, taste it. He couldn't wait to let his claws rip into them._

_To tear them apart..._

_To hear the pop and squish as he separated limbs from sockets._

_He heard them before he saw them. A light was up ahead. He slowed, loping on all fours and then crouching as he neared his prey. He stopped; his foot falls would alert them before he wanted them to._

_He hid behind a grouping of trees watching them. He stifled a laugh; they had built a fire, no doubt for warmth. The fire would be their undoing. But one question remained... How could he get the surprise on them without them knowing? He looked about himself before finally looking up._

_He smiled, his claws unsheathing from his knuckles slowly, the action muffling the usual sound they made. He only extended an inch on each hand before punching his fist into the tree before him._

_He climbed._

_He climbed to find a perch above their makeshift camp, a perch he could launch his flying clawed death on the bastards that had turned him into a Weapon._

_A Weapon... X._

* * *

The first thing Xander knew, he was cold.

The second thing, he was moving.

The third?

Buffy was driving.

His eye shot open and he sat up with a gasp of breath. Buffy, startled from his sudden movement, swerved the car, narrowly missing oncoming traffic. He regretted startling her as his whole body seemed to register complaints from the sudden jerky momentum of the car.

"Whoa!" Buffy yelled as she moved the car back into their lane. "You're awake. You're awake."

"Yeah, I'm awake..." Xander agreed with a groan. "Not so loud, I've got a hangover that feels like I married it, had a litter of little hangover children and they all decided to jump up and down on my brain demanding I get up and make them all chocolate chip pancakes... Except for the youngest who's demanding to know what's under my eye patch by poking it with his tiny little fingers."

"You scared me Xander!" Buffy yelled again, Xander winced. "What the hell was that? How did you do that with your hands? The glowy thing and the blood..."

"Glowy thing? Blood?" he looked at his hands. They seemed normal. Flesh covered, pinkish white, not as calloused as he had gotten use to over the years, but that's what happens when you don't work with wood for almost eight months.

And yet...

Something was at the back of his mind... What was it? Blood? That had been there, a lot of it.

And snow.

Blood, snow and... And claws?

"Since when do you have powers?" Buffy interrupted his thoughts. "Did you summon a demon? Have you made a pact with a devil?"

Xander rubbed his temples trying to clear his head. "Yeah Buff, I have. I'm in commune with the beast... I lay with the dark one..."

"Xander!" Buffy shouted followed by a sharp turn around a corner and into the street that housed the place they now called home. "This is serious!"

"So's this Hangover!" He groaned again as the car turned once more, this time into the driveway of their house. "Now it feels like the Hangover children are whining cos there's no chocolate for the Pancakes... And the littlest one is still poking at my eye patch!" he rubbed the patch with the back of his hand.

The car came to a screeching halt in front of the garage and Buffy turned to face Xander. Her eyes went wide and she jerked his hand away from his face.

"Ugh, what'd you do that for?" he whined then gasped as Buffy increased her grip on his wrist.

"Keep your hands away from your face." Buffy warned, releasing him.

"What? Why?" he looked at her confused.

The look didn't last as he registered Buffy's face, her lip was split, the bleeding having long stopped, a large scratch that ran from her right cheek to just below her ear was a dull red, turning purple with bruising and her left eye was purple and blue in an almost comical parody of his own eye patched face.

"Your face!"

"Never mind my face, that will be healed by morning, I'm more worried about your hands!" She snapped.

"Why?" He reached out to touch her bruised cheek.

Buffy flinched away from his touch. "Because five minutes ago you had blood covered metal spikes about an inch long poking out of your knuckles, that's why..." She grabbed his hand and raised it up between them.

Xander stared at her, then his hand, his confused look returning. "What? Spikes...?" he shook his head, and then stopped himself as his world went spinning before his eye. "Whoa... The Hangover kids do not like that!"

"Just keep your hands in your pockets," she said releasing her grip and getting out of the car. Xander grumbled to himself before he too got out of the car and followed the Slayer into the house. "Couch, sit, now!" she instructed, taking their coats and throwing them into the corner of the room while running for the telephone.

"Yes ma'am!" he mocked saluted with a gloved hand and then fell back onto the couch. As she left to get the phone he began to rub his eye patch again. It felt like that little kid was now scratching at the old wound and all the while his arms felt like all the other hangover children were hanging off of them.

"And keep your hands away from your head!" shouted Buffy from the other room, "Hands at your side!"

Xander groaned letting his arms fall at his sides. He then noticed his hands again. 'What a sec, I wasn't wearing these a second ago...?' He looked at his now gloved hands.

"Huh..." He let out before his head fell back against the headrest and his eye closed as his world drew dark again...

* * *

She typed feverishly, the only sound in her bedroom was the sound of her keyboard as she tried to cast and code as fast as she could. She was rusty. There was a time when she could hack her way from the Sunnydale Memorial Hospital's Morgue to the Sunnydale Water and Power and still have enough time to try a back door into the National Power Grid. Now she could barely keep her digital bones cast in the right servers. But she wasn't beat. She would retrain herself; the Coven would show her the way.

She was so engrossed in her task that she practically jumped out of her chair when her cell phone began to ring. She sighed and saved the program she was writing and picked up her cell phone, reading the caller ID. She frowned when she read 'Cleveland House'

"Buffy?" Willow asked after she flipped her phone open.

"Something's happened!" Buffy almost yelled down the phone.

"What? What's wrong?" Willow gasped standing quickly, ready for anything.

"It's Xander," The Slayer began quickly. "We were on our first patrol, there were a group of Vamps, and then there was a fight and Xander made the devil horns with his hands and there was this white stuff and then some pink stuff and there were bright lights..."

"Oh. My. Goddess!" Willow gasped, cutting Buffy off. "Did you have sex with Xander?" she whispered into the phone and sat down on her bed. "No, don't tell me... No, tell me..." She paused to let Buffy speak before cutting her off again. "No, don't! OK, tell me... No... Yes! No, don't... No, yes, yes tell me, was he good? I bet he was good! Anya always went on and on about him being good..." Willow relaxed on the bed, laying back and spreading out as she prepared to hear of Buffy's exploits. "Wait, you said he made the devil horns with his hands? Ewww, he didn't do that as he was finishing, did he?"

"Willow!" Buffy did yell down the phone this time. "Something happened. He did something with his hands-"

"I bet he did..." Willow smiled, mischief dripping from her voice.

"No, he dusted three Vamps with his hands. There was no sex! One second he was being held by this girl Vamp in a headlock, the next he was shooting this white stuff from his wrists, pulling the vamps off their feet, yelling something like 'Fireon' and his hand caught fire and he was punching and throwing Vamps into headstones."

"What?" Willow sat up shocked as she listened to what her friend had done.

"Then he grabbed one of the Vamps by the neck, lifted it up off the ground and the Vamps head started to glow pink and he threw it with this Rock looking arm and told me to get down and the Vamp's head exploded and dusted them both..."

"W-what?"

"When I got to him his hands were covered in these red gauntlets and his palms were glowing, he yelled and two bright beams shot from them... And, and... He collapsed and he was cold, but then he woke up in the car and his hands... His hands were..." Buffy finished, stopping to catching her breath.

Willow was about to let her continue when a loud crash of breaking furniture came down the phone.

"Buffy! What was that?" she stood up, not sure what she could do, only knowing that she should stand and be ready.

"I... I think it was..." Buffy said into the phone before her voice became distant.

"Buffy? Buffy!" Willow called down the phone.

* * *

_Everyone was looking at him._

_Everyone._

_People shifted out of his way, the ground shook with each of his footfalls as he walked along the sidewalk. He stopped at the curb, waiting for the light to turn green. He grumbled a little to himself. The man next to him who was dressed in a suit and tie and holding a briefcase, gave him a quick glance before turning quickly to the walk button, pressing it repeatedly, over and over again, willing the lights to change._

_People were still looking at him._

_He sighed and turned from the curb, maybe he would just walk up the block a bit instead of crossing it. Everyone shifted again, making way for his large bulk. It was like there was an invisible force field around him, he took one step forward, and everyone else took three steps back._

_At least they had stopped pointing their camera phones at him._

_It had been almost six months since the accident that had changed everything. Changed him... But he had to look at the bright side, he was finally allowed out in the city by himself. All those months had been full of tests and procedures, scans and probes, poking and prodding, body and ability mapping... Sure, some of it was clobbering Mole people, fighting techno bugs, battling aliens, and defeating crazy ass psycho ladies, but all of that didn't matter, he was out!_

_And he was alone._

_No security, no escort, nothing... He was free, free to stand in the sun and enjoy the outdoors. Or at least as much as one can in New York City. He had forgotten the feeling of the sun on his skin in those long months of quarantine. He paused in his walking to close his eyes and feel the sun on his skin now. He got very little warmth from it. He could feel it, it was there, but it didn't warm him like it use to. He looked down at his orange arm and moved it back and forth from shadow to sunlight. They felt the same on his rocky exterior, the sunlight only slightly different then the shadow, but not by much._

_He turned from the sun and caught his reflection in a department store window. He still wasn't used to seeing himself this large and alien. When you lose what makes you, you, it kind of stops you from wanting to see your reflection. He moved closer to the glass staring into his own blue eyes. They looked normal, they weren't changed, they were human, and they were his. He leaned his head against the glass of the window and closed his eyes as they began to water. He sighed and raised a large four fingered fist up against the window as a tear fell down his rocky face._

_"I'm in there, somewhere, right?" he asked no one, opening his eyes again. As if to answer, a large crack formed across the glass of the window from where his forehead was leaning. It spread quickly to where his hand rested, the fracture looking like a sharp angled spiders web. "Uh-oh..."_

_The glass gave way with an almighty crash, shards shattering into tiny pieces as they fell against his rocky bulk. The sudden displacement of the window meant his new body's balance was thrown and he fell forward, into and through the store front window display, through the brick and mortar frame of the wall and several inches into the concrete foundation and sidewalk._

_He was consumed by dust and rubble in his newfound position inside the demolished window display. He rubbed his eyes and began to cough and splutter in surprise as he looked at the destruction he had caused. A few bricks fell every now and then, a couple exploded as they fell on his head and shoulders, the red masonry no match for his orange rocky frame._

_As the dust cleared he finally noticed them._

_They were doing it again._

_Looking..._

_Staring..._

_People in the street had gathered in a circle around him, watching him, the 'Thing', as he looked bewildered at his current predicament. Some looked horrified, others laughed while pointing and taking pictures with their cell phones. He tried to stand, his footing slipping in the pile of bricks, rocks and mortar, forcing him back down to the ground with a large boom._

_More laughter came, some shrieks of terror and even more clicks of pictures being taken. He closed his eyes, shame and anger filling him before he turned on the gathering crowd._

_"What the hell are youse all looking at?" he bellowed in a large gruff voice that seemed to carry for several city blocks._

_No one looked at him after that. They were all too busy running away or calling the cops._

_He sighed and slowly stood, shifting debris as he got to his feet. With another sigh he dusted himself off and continued to walk, this time back to the Baxter Building, trying not to let the tears come._

_He was a freak..._

_A monster..._

_The tears came anyway._

* * *

The phone hung limply at Buffy's side as she looked at Xander's prone body, her mouth agape. It had happened again. His hands had changed; they were no longer his, no longer normal. They were bigger, about the size of his head; five fingers had become four, orange and made from some kind of rock. But it didn't stop at his hands. The orange rock had encased both of his forearms and ended in two large sharp points at his elbows.

He was passed out again, both of his arms at his sides; the couch, broken around him. His prone body laying half on the floor, half on what were the remains of the couch. Padding and wood pierced the fabric of the destroyed three seat couch.

"Buffy!" Willows voice shouted from the small speaker of the phone. "What happened? Is it Xander? Buffy!"

Buffy ignored the phone, the handset hanging loosely in her hand as she took a step towards Xander. He didn't move, didn't respond as she took another step closer and knelt down next to him.

"Xand?" Buffy placed a hand on the man's chest, shaking him gently.

" 'm a Freak..." he mumbled in a deep huff, a tear moving down his face.

"BUFFY!" Willow screamed from the phone.

Buffy's eyes quickly darted from Xander to the phone forgotten in her hand and raised it to her ear. "I'm here, I'm here!" she gasped into the receiver.

"What happened? Is it Xander?"

"Yeah... It's..." Buffy began, not sure what to say. "He's... He's passed out again, but... His arms are covered with this orange rock like stuff," she told her friend as she ran a hand over one of Xander's arms. "Only, this time he's warm... The Rock feels warm."

"What was the crashing sound?" Willow asked.

"Uh, well... That w-was the couch." Buffy looked at the demolished three seater. "He seems to have broken it."

"He broke it?"

"Yeah" Buffy frowned as she tried to pick up one of Xander's arms. "I think his arms were too heavy." she groaned as she struggled to lift the appendage with one hand.

"Have you contacted Giles?" Willow asked as Buffy heard her moving on the other end of the line.

"No, I thought Magicks before research." Buffy let go of his arm, the rock making a clunking noise against the wooden frame of the couch as it hit. "Because this is definitely magic based, not demon-y and there's no way he would be stupid enough to accidentally summon another demon..." she paused, Willow on the other end of the line stopped moving as she held her breath. "Maybe I should ring Giles."

"Yeah" Willow confirmed. "I can have the Coven packed and in the air in half an hour," Willow said into the phone. "We can be there in eight hours... Give or take a chant or two."

"Chant?" Buffy look puzzled at the handset.

"Technopagans, Buffy," Willow answered. "They make the concord look like a school bus when it comes to fast air travel."

"Oh... Yeah, ok." she turned back to Xander as he moaned slightly.

He moved, his arms slowly shrinking and turning pink, before mumbling " 'Mm ok Reed, really..." and rolled over onto his side, reaching out to a piece of the couch and tucking it under his head and clutching it to his shoulder like a pillow.

"Will?" Buffy asked into the phone.

"Yeah Buff?" Willow paused in her packing.

"Hurry."

* * *

This time he woke slowly, the dream fading a little as he rolled over onto his back, blinking a few times as he stared up at the ceiling above him. It was different. It didn't look like the ceiling of his bedroom. And the bed was hard and lumpy, as if the springs had ripped through.

He sat up quickly, finally realising where he was. He turned around and looked at the demolished couch and jumped to his feet, looking around for the thing that had trashed it. There was nothing there. He was alone. He rubbed his head as he had the sudden feeling that something was going on and he wasn't in the loop.

How had he gotten home?

The last thing he remembered was walking with Buffy in a cemetery, no, wait... They were in the car, she told him off, told him to be careful of his hands, something about spikes? He looked at his hands, they looked normal. But he remembered blood, bruises...

"Buffy!" he gasped, remembering her face. "Buffy?" he called out, running from the room and towards the kitchen.

"Xand?" Buffy called out in answer as he entered to find her sitting at the dinner table, phone clutched to her ear.

"Buff, what happened?" he asked, rubbing his head again.

The Slayer just gave him a worried look and turned back to the phone.

"He's awake," she told whoever she was talking to. "Ok... Yes... Just get there as quickly as possible," she said softly. "Yes... I'll try... Ok, we'll meet them there."

"Buffy?" Xander sat down next to his friend.

"Giles, I'm scared." Buffy said bluntly.

Xander looked at her quizzically.

"Ok... Thanks. See you when you get there." Buffy smiled and hung up.

"Ok Buff," Xander half smiled. "I got the Wiggins good and aplenty here, what's going on?" he asked as Buffy looked to him, then his hands, both clasped in front of him. "The last thing I remember we were in a cemetery, and there was a scream, then I'm running almost naked through a snow covered forest, then I'm in the car and you're driving and telling me to be careful of my hands, then I was walking through New York City and suddenly I wake up on the ground on top of a trashed couch... What's going on?" he asked with a pleading eye.

Buffy just stared at him, biting her lower lip, the cut she received earlier that night was almost healed, as she thought what she should tell her friend.

"Oh crap, I didn't make us go out for a celebratory drink after our first patrol back? Did I?"

"No..." Buffy finally said, standing.

"Then what happened?" Xander asked again.

"I'll tell you everything, I promise," Buffy said, putting an arm under Xander's and guided him to his feet. "Once we get to the New Magic Box…"

"But the Magic Box isn't finished…" he interrupted.

"Doesn't matter, some people are meeting us..." she said guiding her friend to the front door.

"People?" Xander asked as they grabbed their jackets. "Who?"

"People who can help," Buffy pushed him through the front door and towards the car.

"Help? Help with..." Xander began his speech turning into a mumble. "Wha...?"

Xander fell mid step, Buffy catching him; her Slayer reflexes the only thing that saved him from face planting into a flower box.

"Whoa!" Buffy called out as his dead weight fell into her arms. "Not again!" She almost growled.

With a grunt she shifted him onto her shoulder as she had done in the cemetery and moved him back to the car. If it wasn't her imagination, he almost seemed to weigh more than he did an hour ago. Opening the passenger door she lowered him into the seat, the car squeaking out a small groan as the suspension took his weight.

"Guess it's not my imagination then." She sighed as she ran to the driver's side and hopped into the car.

"Shooters loaded..." Xander mumbled as she turned the ignition.

Buffy turned to look at her friend as she noticed his breath cloud before him. She placed a hand on his forehead; his skin was cold to the touch again.

* * *

_He landed on all fours, his fingers spread out on each hand as he steadied himself after jumping from thirty feet up. He remained crouching as he flipped his left wrist up, a small cartridge popping out of the small device strapped to it. With a small sigh he pushed a replacement cartridge into its slot and replaced his shirt and glove around his wrist. He was gonna have to figure out a way to either increase how much fluid the cartridges held or find a way to load some kind of magazine into his shooters if he didn't want to have to keep stopping every three hours or so to refill his webs._

_"Maybe I could build some kind of speed loader I could wear on my waist," he said to himself standing to his full height._

_The night wind moved around his body, his costume and mask fought back some of the wind's chill, but not all of it. The speed loader left his mind as the wind chill replaced it. Maybe he would rethink the blue and red tights. After all, he had never given much thought to what he would do when it got to winter and he had to deal with snow._

_"Oh crap that's cold!" he gasped as he leapt from the building's rooftop and began to free fall through the night air. "I never even considered 'Shrinkage' in this thing... Maybe I should ask MJ if there's any noticeable shrinkage underneath the uniform... Or is that inappropriate to ask a girl you've only just started dating and made out with a few times?"_

_He extended his left arm in front of himself and pointed his wrist at a building._

_"Man my life is weird!" He said before pressing his middle fingers to his palm..._

_*THWIP!*_

_The web hit the targeted water vain and went taut, carrying his weight as he held onto the thin thread, his body swinging down before he began to climb again. On instinct at the apex of his swing he extended his right arm and shot another web at the nearest building, letting go with his left hand and grabbing this new thread with his right._

_"Maybe I can get Johnny to ask Reed to help me design an insulated suit for when it starts snowing." He thought aloud. "Cos this cold weather can't be good for the 'boys', or I guess for the whole Spider-'MAN' image."_

_This time instead of shooting another web he let go of his last thread and sailed through the night air and landed silently on a Water tower overlooking a group of police cars set up in a road block, their lights flashing as police officers stood with guns drawn, pointed at a lone gunman, a hostage under his arm._

_"Guess it's time to go to work..." He smiled under his mask, shooting a web in front of himself and jumping from the tower._

* * *

She drove in silence, watching her friend from the corner of her eye as she made her way to the half-finished campus. She stopped the car at the entrance way, pausing to look out her window at the large sign Xander had insisted be installed. She was surprised as she read the inscription.

"Future site of 'The Joyce Summers School for Gifted Girls'?" she read the large letters of the sign that depicted an artist's rendering of the Main building along with a picture of a smiling Joyce holding her two daughters in a loving embrace. "I thought it was going to be called The Chosen Academy?" she half frowned before a small smile replaced it as she looked at her mom's warm, smiling face. She looked at Xander and shook him gently, trying to wake him and failing, at least he was warmer this time she touched him. "We're here Xand, time to see if all the planning was worth it."

It didn't take her long to find the new Magic Box; it was the only building which seemed the most finished, all the others she passed had either large scaffolding covering the outsides, no windows, no roof, or no walls, or just bare I-beams and framework. The other clue was the tall woman in glasses and a tweed jacket and skirt that stood outside with a rather stern look on her face and three women standing beside her along with a gurney.

"Ms Summers." the woman inclined her head in greeting as Buffy pulled up in front of them and quickly exited the car.

"Just Buffy" She threw over her shoulder as she moved to the passenger side.

The woman nodded to the other three women and they moved to open the door and retrieve Xander.

"Stop!" Buffy ordered the women, her tone heavy with authority. "I'll do it."

"Ms Summers, we were summoned here to help so the Coven and Mr Giles will have everything they need to help with whatever affliction Mr Harris may be suffering from."

"And I understand that Mrs…?" she paused trying to remember the woman's name.

"Mrs Elaine Dyson, we have met on many occasions…" Mrs Dyson sighed.

Buffy opened the car door and moved to pick Xander up. "Right, Mrs Dye."

"…Son" The woman corrected. "And I must insist you allow us to help."

Buffy froze and turned around to face the four women. "Are any of you Slayers, Mrs Dye?"

"No, I am a Watcher as you already know and these ladies are training mages and medical staff." Mrs Dyson sighed, crossing her arms.

"Didn't think so," Buffy looked up at the Watcher. "So unless you all have Super strength you're keeping to yourself, I'm gonna pick him up, whatever is happening to him he's getting heavier," she turned back and reached into the car.

"Oh…" Mrs Dyson stepped to the side so the women could move the gurney closer.

"He broke a couch back at the house and the car has been groaning the entire way here." Buffy put an arm under his legs and behind his back and lifted her friend with a groan and a slight strain. Just as she was standing up she heard a large, long 'RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPP'!

She froze for a second before turning and placing Xander on the offered gurney, the frame straining as it took his weight.

"What ripped?" one of the women asked.

Buffy turned back to the car to see a large patch of the chairs upholstery missing. "The-the seat…"

Mrs Dyson lifted up Xander's left hand, a large piece of the upholstery attached to his palm. As everyone stared she tried to remove the fabric, unsuccessfully.

"Get him inside," Mrs Dyson ordered. "Perform every test, Magical and Medical."

* * *

**A/N 2:** So, how did I do? More confused? Hopefully there is some relief coming in the next chapter. I will say my favourite thing about this chapter is my little dream sequence of Ben walking in NYC. It was one of the first things I wrote in this story and I especially like the last few lines of the dream.

Please Review and I'll try to get the next half up soon.


	3. Powers & Dreams Part 2

**Disclaimer in Chapter One - Time to Suit Up!**

**Authors Note 1: **Here you go, Part 2.

* * *

He could hear beeping.

In all his years of being a Scooby, beeping was never a good sign.

Add the beeping to the sensation of lying in a bed, and dressed in a papery gown that he was pretty sure didn't do up all the way in the back and it never equalled anything good.

His left hand felt weird. He could move it, but it felt like something was stuck to his fingers, like he had been wrapping a gift for someone and had packing tape attached to each digit. He resisted the urge to flick his hand back and forth, trying to get whatever was stuck off.

Then there was the buzzing. That was a worry too.

He could feel it, at the back of his mind, a buzzing, tingling sensation.

Someone was near him.

Or something was coming.

Or was about to happen.

Or all three...

He heard a door open and someone walked into the room.

The buzzing stopped.

"Any news?" He heard a female voice ask as it shifted in its seat off to his side.

'Buffy.' He said in his mind.

"Nothing from the Mrs. Dyson and the Mages" another female voice said, moving to his other side.

He didn't recognise her voice, but he assumed she was some kind of medical staff as he felt soft hands check his arm and the I.V. Tube that he hadn't realised was in his arm. "The Medical tests will take longer," the voice continued, her hands moving again to lift his gown and check the monitor cables attached to his chest. "But so far they've ruled out any Demon influence."

"That's good," Buffy said as it sounded like she sat back in her chair.

"But the bulk of the magical tests can't be performed until Ms. Rosenberg and the Technopagans arrives," the female voice said moving away from him, the sound of something being picked up near his feet. "He's lucky, the lab was only fully stocked and staffed a week ago. The Doctor's were still a few days off from arriving."

"What?" Buffy almost growled.

"Don't worry Ms. Summers, the Doctor's arrived an hour ago," the female voice said startled, the sound of feet stepping back suddenly made him think that she had jumped back from the Senior Slayer. "They're going over all the information we have so far and will be with you in the next half hour."

"G-good..." Buffy stammered before apologising. "Sorry, I'm just a bit freaked..."

"How do you think I feel..." Xander chose that moment to speak and open his eye.

Before his eye could adjust to being open and focus on the room around him a blonde blur rushed to his side and placed a hand on his arm.

"Xander!" Buffy gasped before slapping him on the shoulder. "Stop passing out, it's really scaring me."

"Yes Boss..." Xander moaned.

"I'll let the Doctor's know you're awake." The female voice, which belonged to a tall black woman in nurses scrubs, said with a smile before replacing his chart at the foot of the bed and leaving the room.

"Thank you" Buffy smiled back.

When the door closed silence fell on the room, the slow beep, beep, beep of the heart monitor next to Xander the only sound. The room was your typical hospital room, a window to the left that showed a night sky and an excellent view of a small garden courtyard and parking lot, the right, a cupboard to store his clothes and a door that he knew led to a adjoining bathroom. The chair Buffy had vacated was on the right side of his bed near the foot, the wall opposite the foot of the bed was made up of a large window and the door to the room. The windows blinds were closed, but light shone through the slats, hiding the hallway and nurses station beyond.

Both friends looked at each other. Xander stared at Buffy's groused face, her injuries were healing. Her black eye now looked more like it had happened a few days ago, not a few hours. He was about to tell her to go get herself checked out if she hadn't already, which he suspected was the case, when Buffy broke the shared stare, looking at his hand and the upholstery that lay under his fingertips. Xander followed her eye line and raised the hand, himself staring.

"Huh..." He said, shaking his hand, the dark upholstery flapping back and forth.

He suddenly had a memory flash before him.

_He was falling through the night sky. His right hand holding a rope, the left stretched out in front of him reaching for a flat wall. His hand touched the wall and he let go of the rope. But instead of falling down the flat surface and towards the ground several stories below he hung there, his feet moving against the wall to steady himself._

"...Cut it off without taking several layers of skin." he heard Buffy finish as he stopped shaking his hand and stared at it.

"Huh?" Xander turned to her before turning back to the fabric.

"I said, the nurses were gonna try to cut it off," she repeated, pointing at his hand. "But they couldn't do that without taking a couple layers of skin off at the same time."

"Oh..." Xander said, reaching with his right hand, grabbing the fabric and pulling forcibly, the upholstery come off with a little give and a soft 'zip'. He looked at the dark piece before throwing it from his grip, shaking his fingers in a motion of disgust.

"What is going on Xander?" Buffy turned stern.

"No idea..." Xander said looking at his hands, a small smile threatening to appear on his face.

"Xander..."

"Seriously Buff, I have no idea," he said as his mind went back to earlier in the night. "One minute we're patrolling, I'm feeling tired, hell, my arms still feel like I'm still carrying sandbags, my legs feel like tree trunks. The next, you were getting the snot beat out of you and I was in a headlock being forced to watch." He looked at the I.V. Tube in his arm, he rubbed it before looking up at the heart monitor that continued to beep next to him, he felt like the beeping was beginning to mock him and his confusion.

"That's all you remember?" Buffy asked worriedly.

"Well... There was the way the vamp holding me turned to dust around me, then vamps were flying, there was fire and an explosion, then a bright light... Then there was lots of snow, and running, and following smells... Then we were back home, then I was walking through New York City and I woke up on the floor, then I was flying...? No, I was falling through the night sky and there was flashing lights..." He trailed off, staring at his hands, trying to remember something about them. "Why are we here? Is it because I'm confused guy?"

Buffy looked from his hands to his face and back again, "Something like that..."

"I guess this is the price you pay for stopping the party..." Xander's head bobbed suddenly. "I'm always looking... To... P-Party..." He mumbled, his eye closing as his head hit the pillow again.

The beeping monitor increased.

* * *

_The bike was fast._

_Just the way he liked it._

_He weaved back and forth between the traffic, a smile on his face and letting out a laugh every now and then followed by a large 'Woo-hooooo!'._

_But something was missing._

_Then his ears picked up the faint sound of the sirens._

_He was getting close._

_He willed the bike to go faster as he gripped the throttle to full._

_Reed was wrong. Ben was wrong. His sister, well, she was his sister, so she was always wrong on principle. They had these abilities, why not use them?_

_Hadn't they shown they could do good in the past few weeks? Rescuing Sue from the mole guy, beating off that psycho with the computer brain, even traipsing off in Reed's 'Fantasti-Car' prototype to find a metal goat Victor who had set some commune slave-ring trap for them... They had used their powers to fight, so why not use them to help? He had even followed Reed's advice and taken the Hover Bike Prototype they were working on at the Baxter Think __T_ank instead of flying on flames, all because Reed had told him it might scare people not use to seeing a burning man, let alone one streaking through the air several stories above street level.

_He could see the smoke now, at the end of the street he had just turned down. He barrelled down the centre of the blocked off road and skidded sideways, or at least what passed for skidding while on a hover bike, to stop at the edge of the fire and police cordoned off area. He ripped off his helmet when he had reached a complete stop and jumped off the bike. He ignored the pair of police officers who tried to stop him as he ducked under the police tape and ran for the burning building. He wasn't sure what he was gonna do once he was there, but he was sure as hell gonna try to help._

_Two fire fighters entered the building in full gear and masks just before he ran inside. The smoke was everywhere, filling his lungs almost instantly as he almost ploughed into the two firemen._

_"Whoa!" He yelled over the confused yells of the men. "Hot in here *Cough*, huh?"_

_"Kid? What the hell?" One fireman looked at him in shock through his breathing gear._

_"It's ok, I'm here to h-*Cough*-help!" He said, the smoke filling his lungs._

_"Get out of here!" The second fireman yelled. "The whole building could collapse at any minute."_

_"Seriously, I can *Cough* help!" He yelled again._

_"Get him out of here!" The first fireman yelled to the second. "I'm gonna check the third floor, some lady thinks her son is still up there."_

_"Third floor! Got it!" He yelled pushing passed the Firemen and running for the stairs._

_He ignored the yells of "Wait!" and "Stop!" and jumped the stairs three at a time._

_'Third floor, third floor,' he kept thinking to himself._

_The stairs were getting hotter the higher he climbed, the air filled more and more with smoke. The heat didn't faze him as he reached the third floor landing, although he could do without the smoke._

_"Hello?" He called out walking down the hallway. Several apartment doors hung open, orange glow and black smoke billowing from each. "What the hell are you doing Johnny?" He said to himself as embers fell on his head and shoulders, the small flakes hot, but the heat didn't burn him. "Hello? Does someone need any help?"_

_His head snapped to the side as he heard a scream pierce the crackling of the flames around him._

* * *

The monitor seemed to be deafening as it beeped loudly next to the bed, telling anyone who would care to listen that Xander's heart rate had begun to beat faster. But Buffy ignored it, instead she stared at his hands again. As soon as his head had hit the pillow, smoke and steam began to rise from his gloved hands. Acting quickly before the bed sheets caught alight, she picked his arms up by the wrists and held them above Xander's passed out body. Heat was radiating from the gloves he wore, the leather slowly began to smoulder as the heat built up.

"What the hell is happening?" Buffy said to herself before blinking. "Wait a minute... He wasn't wearing those when I brought him in..."

As if to answer her the gloves gave a few pulses of heat, the leather began to show large cracks of embers that glowed before fully bursting into flame. Buffy would have jumped back in surprise if she hadn't been holding on to Xander's wrists at the time. Instead she leaned back and looked worriedly from Xander, to his hands and then to the door of the hospital room.

"Someone get in here!" She yelled out. "Fire!"

"It's ok," Xander mumbled as if to answer. "I'm here to help..."

The nurse from before followed by two more nurses and three men in white lab coats whom Buffy assumed were the Doctors rushed in, each stopping at the foot of the bed.

"Don't just stand there!" Buffy yelled. "Put it out!"

"Don't worry, fire can't hurt me..." He mumbled again. "I'm here to save you..."

At once one of the doctors left the room and returned with a fire extinguisher, not missing a beat he proceeded to pull the pin and pointed the hose at Xander's hands. The extinguisher let off a loud 'whoosh' as it released its contents over both Xander and Buffy, the carbon dioxide moving over them both like a quickly disappearing fog. As Buffy struggled to breathe the doctor stopped the extinguisher. To their surprise the fire still rose from Xander's gloved hands, but to their amazement the fire didn't seem to be harming him. Instead the gloves were fading every now and then from his hands. Longer and longer they seemed to disappear until they were completely gone.

"How long till you tell me what the hell is going on?" Buffy said though gritted teeth, still holding Xander's hands aloft.

The doctor with the fire extinguisher lowered the canister in his hand and looked to the others. Each medical staff member looked back at him then to the angry Slayer before them.

"Ah... Well..." The extinguisher Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "We c-can't find anything wrong with him. Nothing medical!" He quickly added. "He should be awake right now, we have no medical reason for what's happening."

One of the Doctors behind him cleared his throat, an action that got stern looks from the other doctors.

"No *Medical* reason." The extinguisher Doctor repeated looking at the one who had cleared his throat.

"What's your name," Buffy asked the throat clearer, looking at him through Xander's flaming hands.

"Roberts, Dr Harry Roberts Ms. Summers," he replied stepping forward.

"What's your theory?"

"Well, as we were looking over the quick X-Rays of Mr. Harris here-"

"Xander." Buffy stated. "His name is Xander. He hates being called Mr. Harris..." She added in a low voice.

"Xander," Dr Roberts nodded and smiled nervously. "I noticed that the films that concentrated an his arms and legs were strangely blurry."

"Which could be explained by him moving when the exposure was taken," the doctor with the fire extinguisher still in his hand said.

"He never moved," the dark skinned tall nurse from before spoke up. "I told you, if he had I would have taken another X-Ray."

"And besides Davis," Dr Roberts spoke to the extinguisher Doctor. "That doesn't explain why his bones are blurry but not the flesh around them or why his hands don't even appear on the X-Rays."

As if to answer the Doctor, Xander's hands chose that moment to flare up for a few seconds before the flames died away leaving his hands their normal pink self.

"He just moved is all," Dr Davis snapped. "We just have to take the X-Rays again..."

"No more tests, Reed." Xander mumbled, pulling his hands away from Buffy and curling into his pillow.

"Outside" Buffy said, nodding her head towards the door and the hallway that lay beyond in. She didn't wait for an answer and walked out of the room to stop just outside the doorway.

* * *

'Ok, weird dreams a go-go...' Xander thought as he opened his eye slowly. He looked around the room and could swear he could still smell the smoke, only, he could smell something else... It was almost chemical, but not. The next thing he noticed was he was alone. It didn't surprise him, he couldn't remember falling asleep or passing out or whatever was happening to him and he just hoped Buffy was getting her injuries looked at.

He sat up in the hospital bed, trying to remember what had happened in the dream this time. He had been riding a motorbike? He'd never ridden a motorbike before, unless you count the time Jessie's Cousin let him sit on his Dirt bike and he had accidentally thrown it into gear and ran into the side of the house with it.

And the dream had been so real... The jumping off the bike and running into a burning building? It reminded him of the time he had helped Caveman Buffy rescue the other Neanderthals in college. The smoke, the flames, the heat, all the same, only the heat hadn't seemed to faze him.

He was deep in his musings when the door was promptly opened and a woman in her late forties and dressed in tweed and glasses walked in. If one didn't know any better they would assume she was related to Giles, those that did know better knew that besides her look she was pure Watcher to the core, only slightly more open minded.

"Mrs. Dyson, don't tell me they called you in because of me..." Xander half groaned, half sighed.

"I am the Watcher in charge till Mr. Giles completes his staff recruitment, as you well know Mr. Harr-" Xander cleared his throat in annoyance. "Oh please, I will not call you Xander, that is not a proper name." She huffed in all her Britishness.

"It's the name my best friend of 19 years gave me when we first met back in kindergarten." Xander told her. "Mr. Harris is my no good son-of-a-"

"Yes, yes, your father..." Mrs. Dyson sighed. "Alexander then?" Xander nodded his head yes. "Very well."

"So Mrs. D, what's wrong with me?"

"Must everyone butcher my proper name?" Mrs. Dyson rolled her eyes and sighed under her breath.

"Welcome to the states, we like a nickname" Xander shrugged.

"Yes, I've noticed," Mrs. Dyson sat down in the chair next to the bed. "Well Alexander, you have everyone in a frenzy. The doctors will be in with you shortly, they are just going over your results with Ms. Summers... As for the mages on Staff, well, we have ruled out Demon influence, witchcraft and a number of curses."

"Why would a demon want me to pass out and have weird dreams?" Xander questioned.

"They wouldn't Alexander, I just said we've ruled out Demon influence."

"Right, right..." Xander nodded his head.

"But unfortunately we have exhausted the power of our current mages." Mrs. Dyson sat back in her seat. "We will have to wait for Ms. Rosenberg and her, *hem*, friends, to arrive before we can learn anything."

"So it's not Magicks?"

"We're not sure," She replied. "There is something happening with your hands, as to what's causing it, is anyone's guess..."

Xander looked at his bare hands, making fists and then releasing them. "My hands...?" He said confused. "What's wrong with my hands?"

Before Mrs. Dyson could answer Xander's hands changed before him. Once again his hands were covered in the fingerless tactical leather gloves he had put on at the start of the night.

"Ok... That's a little weird..." Xander stared at his hands. "And I usually like the weird s-stuff..." He smiled, his eyebrows moving up and down to convey his meaning before his eye slowly closed and his head fell back.

"Oh my..." Mrs. Dyson let out quietly as the heart monitor began to beep shrilly next to the man she had come to know and understand the past few months while she was Head Watcher in Giles' absence. She let out a sigh before her own eyes went wide. "Why did I have to visit him now..." She slowly stood up as whirring could be heard coming from his hands as they slowly changed again.

* * *

_"Ok people, what have you got?" He walked into the room and raised his arms in greeting, spilling a little of his drink in the process. "Oops." He smiled._

_The room was large, broken up into small work areas and workshops. One long corridor went down the room, one row of stations on either side against each wall. Upon his entrance all work had stopped as each person proceeded to ready their presentations._

_He was bored._

_And a little drunk._

_But then again, if he wasn't near his own workshop or with a beautiful woman or two (or three or four) he was always bored. But he had promised the Board Members that he would take a more 'active role' in the company if he wanted their continued help with his suit._

_'Don't get me wrong' he thought to himself as he faked interest and "Ooo'ed" and "Ah'ed" his way through the various stations. 'I could make my suit work on my own, but I still need someone to help me out of it.'_

_So he would play the part of the interested Company CEO. After all, even he could afford to waste an hour just to get the Board Members off his back. But it wasn't a total waste, most of the stations were home to some of the brightest minds from all over the world, either brought under the Company's wing to continue its foothold of being the number one Fortune 500 Company in the world, or they were employed just so they wouldn't end up as competition against the company further down the line. It was touch and go with which projects he was looking at that fell under which category._

_'Its like the Baxter Think Tank," he thought as he looked at the mismatched projects of the room. 'Only everyone can legally drink...'_

_His mind was just thinking about asking someone to fetch him another drink himself when he saw something that made him pause and then see red._

_At the far end of the room, still working at his station, sparks flying every once and a while, was a small man of maybe twenty. It wasn't that the man was working, that he could forgive. It was the fact that he had several pairs of his Gauntlets, many disassembled, others with modifications attached it to them, all except for the pair the man was working on which looked just like their normal red and yellow armoured configuration._

_"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He yelled moving quickly to the man's station and snatching the soldering iron out of the mans hand._

_"Working!" Snapped the man not looking up._

_"On my Gauntlets?" He snapped back._

_"No, on my Glov-" The man finally looked up and his words died in his throat. "Mr. Sta-"_

_"Well?" He cut the man off. "What the hell are you doing with my Gauntlets..." He quickly looked around the station for a name plate and saw a small plaque slightly obscured by a dead pot plant. "Barren Bears?"_

_"Actually, my name is War..."_

_"You know what? I don't care what your name is," he put his glass down and crossed his arms. "I care about how you got your hands on my Gauntlets?" He looked down at the man. "Are you even cleared to see these, has S.H.I.E.L.D. vetted you?"_

_A balding, bespectacled man in a white lab coat stepped up with a clipboard and quickly said. "I'm Dr. Kelping, floor manager, Sir. Everyone who steps through the front doors of this company is vetted to the highest levels by both the Government and S.H.I.E.L.D. Sir."_

_"And you have clearance?" He asked the smaller man._

_"Well, I thought..."_

_"Did you think?" He asked, stepping closer. "Ok, now I do want to know who you are, what makes you qualified to even touch my gauntlets?"_

_"I'm War..." The smaller man began._

_"Who hired this man?" He quickly turned and asked Dr. Kelping. "WHY did we hire this man?"_

_"You hired me," the smaller man informed him. "Personally. I was brought on because of my breakthrough in the L.M.D. Project..."_

_"L.M.D.?" He looked puzzled._

_"Ah, Life Model Decoy Sir." Supplied Dr. Kelping._

_"Oh, right, the Robots that Fury thinks can be used for doubling people and hopefully weaponised..." He paused in thought. "And just because you made yourself a girlfriend in your parents basement-"_

_"College actually." the small man muttered._

_"-That makes you qualified to play around with my Iron Tech?"_

_"I just thought that I could..." The small man began to explain himself._

_"You're fired." He said looking down at him. "Get security," he turned to Dr. Kelping. "Box all his projects and send them to my personal Workshop." He turned back to the small man. "Grab your Coat, and your Gloves," he said pointing to a pair of leather fingerless gloves that sat where he could have sworn were a pair of his Gauntlets a few minutes ago. "And get out! And if I see any of my Tech out there on the streets, Barren, I'm gonna personally-"_

_"My name is Warr-"_

_"AND I'M GONNA PERSONALLY," He looked stern at the small man as he raised his voice and talked over him. "Hit you with so many lawsuits that S.H.I.E.L.D. won't have to arrest you, you'll be running up to the Triskelion, begging to be thrown in Jail."_

* * *

His hands had changed again as soon as he had lost consciousness. The heart monitor next to him again beeping loudly, but not successful in blocking the whirring noises now coming from his hands.

Mrs. Dyson stood, standing and staring at Xander and the Weapons he now had covering his hands. The Red and Gold Gauntlets had been described to her by Buffy and she slowly became worried as two panels, one on the back of each hand, had begun to open and close. Each time they opened she could see a series of six small rockets in a row. She was about to call out to alert someone when the door to the hospital room opened and Buffy came in followed by Dr. Roberts.

"He-he..." Mrs. Dyson began, pointing to the Gauntlets as more panels began to open.

"I can see Mrs. Dye." Buffy stopped short, staring at his hands. "Go Go Gadget Hands..."

More weapons were exposed, small gun barrels that seemed too short, to small to fire bullets, a small platform that rose from halfway up his right arm held a deadly looking small missile that everyone in the room was sure could level the building if it were to be fired. Two, foot long blades, one on each hand sprang out from his wrists just above the back of his hands. Both looked razor sharp as they retracted by themselves, only to shoot out a few seconds later. Each tip of his index fingers opened, a small red glow shining from within, while the tips of is other fingers opened up and three nozzles on each hand extended out, small puffs of carbon dioxide leaked out in two short bursts.

"Iron Man..." Dr Roberts gasped, staring at Xander and turning to Buffy. He let out a laugh and smiled. "He... Iron Man's Gauntlets..." He pointed.

"Iron Man?" Buffy looked at the Doctor. "As in the Comic Book Character? As in One of Andrew's Favourite Comic Book Characters?"

"Mr. Wells?" Mrs. Dyson questioned. "Mr. Giles' Apprentice?"

"Barren..." Xander mumbled, Buffy turning to look at him. She frowned at her friend and placed a hand to his forehead, brushing a lock of hair from his brow.

"Andrew Wells?" Dr Roberts asked. "I don't know who Andrew is, but those, as hard as it is to believe, are Iron Man's Gauntlets, his, uh, Repulsors..." He stepped closer, the tech still opening and closing the various weapons. He chose the left arm as it looked like the less deadly of the two, and it didn't have a large Missile sticking out of it, and very carefully he reached forward and lifted Xander's arm. Holding it up he turned the appendage so he could show Buffy the underside. "Here, this is his main weapon, the Palm Repulsor..."

"That's what he fired into the air..." Buffy muttered staring at the slowly winking in and out circle of light that rested in the palm of the large red Gauntlet.

Dr Roberts lowered the Gauntlet back down to the bed slowly and turned to Buffy.

"Can you describe the abilities he displayed before you brought him in..." He asked.

"I've already told you," Buffy gave him a tired look.

"Then tell me again," Dr Roberts moved around the bed to stand next to the Slayer. "In as much detail as you can remember."

* * *

Xander could hear talking, three voices seemed to be discussing... Superheroes and... Comic books? He wouldn't have been so surprised if not for the fact that two of the voices were Buffy and Mrs. Dyson.

"Ok," he mumbled sitting up with a yawn. "What did I miss and why are you guys talking about Superheroes?"

He looked at the trio as they stood at the foot of the bed. He looked to the man in a white lab coat and blinked at him, trying to find his name in his confused brain.

"Hi," he said to the man. "You are...?"

"Dr. Harry Roberts Mr. Harri-" the Doctor began.

Both Buffy and Xander cleared their throats, interrupting the man and causing Mrs. Dyson to roll her eyes and let out a sigh as she sat down on the foot of the bed.

"-Xander," he nodded. "I am one of your doctors-"

"Only competent Doctor," Buffy added.

"Right..." Xander looked to Buffy who nodded to him. "So Doc, what's the problem with me?"

Dr. Roberts smiled and took a step around the other side of the bed. "Well, that's a big question, isn't it?" He folded his arms and looked down at the man. "At the present time we can't find anything wrong. We can't explain why you keep passing out, you are a fit young man..."

"But...?" Xander said slowly. "There's a but coming, right? There's always a but."

"But..." He paused, looking from Buffy to Mrs. Dyson. "Something showed up on the X-Rays."

"Or didn't show up." Buffy added.

At Xander's confused look Roberts continued. "Both of your hands failed to register in the images. Your arms just seem to end at the wrists."

Again Xander looked at his hands. There was something at the back of his mind...

"What else?" He said, looking up at the Doctor, he had a feeling there was more... A buzzing in his head.

"Your arms and legs," he took a breath. "They show up, but they appear blurry. As if the X-Rays..."

Xander rubbed the back of his head, the buzzing increased.

"The X-Rays just bounced around them." Roberts finished. "As if something is *coating* them..." He nodded his head slightly in emphasis.

"So... What?" Xander shook his head. "I'm fit as a fiddle, but my hands, arms and legs are... Changing?"

"Yes..." Mrs. Dyson nodded, followed by Buffy. "We are leaning more towards something Mystical that's effecting you." She said, placing a comforting hand on Xander's foot.

"I thought you ruled Magicks out?" He cocked an eyebrow at the Watcher.

"No Alexander," she frowned. "The mages ruled out Demon Influence and many small curses and spells, we still have to wait for the Coven to perform a more thorough diagnostic."

"Why would a spell be cast on me to pass out? For my hands to disappear?" He rubbed his head, the buzzing seemed to be in his whole head now until a sort of epiphany happened to him. "Why the dreams... A-about...? Whoa..." The buzzing stopped and he suddenly looked sharply at all three. "I dreamed about heroes! About Comic Book Characters... How did you kn...? What aren't you telling me?"

Buffy put a hand on his shoulder and began to explain the last few hours to him. How he had saved her in the cemetery, how his hands had displayed abilities. How he had passed out and his hands had changed to have spikes coming out of them and ropes and turned into living rock or had caught fire, and how one of the vampires heads had glowed a bright pink before dusting the demon. And lastly how he had suddenly had large red and gold Gauntlets covering his hands and most of his forearms, various weapons opening and closing on the metal gloves.

At first he wasn't sure if they were pulling his leg or if they were serious. As Buffy talked he stared at his hands. Spikes, Ropes, Fire, Rock, Pink Glow, Red Gauntlets. He flexed his fingers a couple times before making a fist with both of them. She had said spikes had come out of his hands, but in his dream he had claws...

Taking a deep breath he thought back to his dream and squeezed both fists. He was rewarded with a dual *SNIKT* sound and three large blade like claws sprang from his knuckles on both hands. His hands hurt for a second or two were each blade protruded from between each knuckle. He moved his fists about in front of himself, looking at each of the shiny metal blades. Buffy had taken a step back when the blades had shot out, her eyes wide, the Doctor and Mrs. Dyson doing the same thing.

"Xand... " Buffy gasped.

"Alexander..." Mrs. Dyson stood, shocked by the blades.

"Right there with ya." He said in awe as he knocked one set of blades against the other with a *CLANG, CLANG, CLANG*.

"Wolverines Claws..." Roberts said in awe.

Xander un-tensed his fists and the blades retracted into his hands. He tensed his right and the Claws sprang forth again with another *SNIKT* sound. He un-tensed his right fist again and the Claws retracted once more. He tried with the left and *SNIKT*, they were back. He retracted his left Claws and unleashed his right. He did this back and forth with a *SNIKT, SNIKT, SNIKT* before retracting both sets and flexing his fingers again and again.

"How far away are the others?" Xander asked, looking up at the Slayer then the Doctor and finally the Watcher before him.

"I don't know..." Mrs. Dyson reached out and took one of his hands in hers. Her fingers tracing his unblemished knuckles. "But I will go find out," she let go of his hand and turned for the door.

"Good idea," he said pointing a hand at the ceiling, followed by a *THWIP* sound, a white rope had sprang from his gloved wrist and stuck to the ceiling tile.

Buffy jumped back as Xander made the devil horns again with his hand and a rope attached to the ceiling, Mrs. Dyson turning back and staring at Xander's now gloved hand.

"Spider-Man's Webs..." Roberts smiled, reaching out to the thin strand.

"The Gloves are back." Mrs. Dyson pointed.

"Huh..." Xander too stared at his gloved hand, then the other still bare hand.

"I will contact Mr. Giles," Mrs. Dyson looked from the glove then up at the webbing. "And find out from the Mages on staff if they have a ETA on Ms. Rosenberg and the Coven." She turned and left the room.

Xander stared at his hand and the pose of his middle and ring finger touching his gloved palm and his thumb, pointer and pinkie were stretched out, pointing at the ceiling. He moved his hand and grabbed the thin rope of what actually appeared to be real life webbing that had shot from his wrist. He pulled the sticky web like rope and it had some pull to it. He let go of it suddenly and the rope sprang back up to the ceiling and stuck to the tile in a web like shape.

"N-No way..." Xander said in awe, staring at his hands and the leather fingerless gloves he had put on earlier in the night, which hadn't been there a few seconds ago.

"It has to be the Gloves," Roberts gestured to Xander's hands. "Where did they come from before you put them on?"

Before Buffy could say something Xander had turned both hands and pointed them at the chair she had been sitting in only a few hours before. His gloved hands were in the pose his hand had been a few seconds ago. She now saw that it wasn't the devil sign, but more like he was pushing a button on the gloves palms with his middle and ring finger. Two large *THWIP's* sounded, followed by that white webbing, shooting from his wrists and landing on each arm of the chair. All Buffy could do was gasp wide eyed and reach out feebly as the rope retracted quickly, the chair going airborne and heading towards Xander.

Xander felt the buzzing, tingling sensation again at the back of his head and instantly had the urge to roll out of his bed. His eye went wide as time seemed to slow down around him, he looked to his gloved hands and the Webs he had somehow been able to shoot from his wrists, then to the chair that was now leaving the ground and heading towards him, the webs retracting into his wrists. The buzzing told him to move, so he did, rolling to his side and off the bed, the Doctor jumping back and out of his way quickly in surprise. The chair was now sailing past Xander to bounce off the bed and into the wall behind it, breaking into several pieces.

Xander hit the floor with an "Oof!", landing on his fingertips. As Buffy's mouth went agape and the Doctor grinned like a six year old reading a comic book for the first time Xander straightened into a handstand, turning his body around as a gymnast would on a pummel horse, and jumping around quickly, moving into a crouching position to face The Slayer and Doctor. Xander's hands were outstretched in front of himself, fingers spread apart, one leg bent underneath himself, the knee raised higher than his body and the other leg straight at his side, the ball of his foot flush to the ground. His body hugged the floor, poised and ready for anything in a strangely accurate portrayal of his childhood hero.

"B-Buff?" Xander asked from the floor, straightening up, his fingers splayed out, each remaining in contact with the floor, his outstretched leg moving underneath him till he was in a crouching position.

"Y-yeah Xand?" Buffy stared at her friend and then the remains of the chair strewn around the head of the hospital bed.

"Did I just..." He gulped.

"Move like Spider-Man?" Roberts finished, grinning in awe.

"Yeah..." He nodded.

"Yes..." Buffy nodded.

"Good... Good..." He said, standing. "Cos for a second there I was starting to get wigged out..." He looked down at his now gloveless hands.

"Not the only one Xand..." Buffy said stepping closer to her friend and reaching out to move her hand over his, both staring at them.

"This is amazing!" Roberts almost yelled.

"Nice choice of words Doc." Xander frowned at the man, clearing off the remains of the chair from his bed, Buffy helping him.

"I'm so glad I took this job!" Roberts said, moving to the foot of the bed and picking up Xander's chart. "Ok, I think the first thing we need to do is have a few more scans of your hands, M.R.I., CT scan, P.E.T., and an Ultrasound, just in case..."

"Happy your thrilled Roberts..." Buffy muttered, helping Xander back into bed.

"Yeah, ecstatic for ya Doc." Xander nodded and Buffy helped him with his blankets.

"I'm sorry, it's just that, well..." The smile left his face before appearing again. "Spider-Man's webs, Logan's Claws, Iron Man's Gauntlets... And the way Buffy described it, you even have Gambits Kinetic Energy charge-"

"What!?" Xander sat up quickly. "You, you never said anything about Gambit..." He looked from the Doctor then the Slayer.

"Which one is-?" Buffy began.

"Aw, Chère," Xander drawled, his head drooping slightly, his voice taking on a Cajun accent. "You don't want to k-know..."

As his head hit the pillow raised voices could be heard coming from the hallway.

Buffy stared from Xander then the Doctor, Roberts was staring horrified at the one eyed man and his blankets.

Blankets that began to slowly pulse with a bright pink energy.

"Oh Crap..." Roberts gasped.

The commotion outside grew louder, people were now shouting out someone's name along with the sounds of people running. The door suddenly burst open and a small man with longish, curly blonde hair, dressed in a tweed suit and jacket came barging in.

Huffing slightly the small mans eyes grew worried as he took in the sight of Xander's prone body and his Gloved hands as they lay on the rapidly glowing pink blankets.

"Oh my sweet White Knight..." The man said stepping closer.

"Andrew?" Buffy turned to the small man.

"Hey Buffy..." Andrew nervously waved to the Slayer. "I, uh... I think I might have screwed up..." He looked at the Gloves. "Really screwed up..." He said his eyes growing wide as he realised what was happening to the blanket.

* * *

**A/N 2: **There you have it, it was a long one but that's Part 2 done and hopefully Answers were contained within.

For those of you dear readers who might have realised the name of the creator of the Gloves (Not the best way to hide his name I know, but I thought it was funny), please keep it to yourself if you leave a review, just call him the Creator... I think his ego would like that.

Feel free to mention his name in future chapter reviews as his name will be given away next chapter, for now I just want some Mystery kept in place (because that's one thing this story is lacking, Mystery... Not!)


	4. Andrew Confesses

**Disclaimer in Chapter One - Time to Suit Up!**

* * *

_"Ok," he yelled, his Cajun accent thick, his dark eyes never leaving the three cards as he shuffled them. "Who's feeling lucky today?" He smiled at the crowd that had gathered._

_He stood, his back to a street light, a cardboard box sitting on a side ways turned apple crate in front of him. His hands were fast as he shuffled the three half folded cards on the box._

_"Find the Queen, get away clean," he said, holding up the three cards, one the Queen of Hearts, the other two the Jack of Spades and Clubs. "Find the Jacks, get knocked back! Who wants to try their mettle?" He returned to shuffling. He smiled again as a bunch of people pushed against each other, trying to be the one to place their bets._

_It was like taking money from suckers._

_Actually, that is exactly what it was. They threw down money to pick the right card, which they never seemed to guess. Oh sure, they thought they had him figured out. The way he sometimes lifted his left hand a little to high so a person just might catch a glimpse of the card's face, or when he seemed to clear his throat before asking the person if they were sure they wanted to pick 'that' card. He had a few different tells depending on which sucker you asked._

_But it was all part of the act._

_A wad of cash fell on the box in front of the three cards. It was thick, held together by a rubber band and placed down by a hand covered in a pair of fingerless gloves. He looked up at the man who had dropped the cash._

_The man smiled darkly and said, "Close down the game and follow me, there's more where that came from." His voice sounding slightly joyful._

_"Nice for you," he brushed the money off the box, the man catching it quickly. "Bets only."_

_"Listen Remy," the man continued smiling. "Take the money," he reached forward, grabbed his hand and thrust the cash into his palm. "If you manage to not blow it up while holding it, close down the game and follow me. Mutie Haters could be anywhere..."_

_Not waiting for an answer the man turned around and moved off._

_He looked at the cash again and up at the mans retreating back. Thinking it over for a beat he scooped up his cards and said a quick "Au revoir tout le monde, I seem to be closed." and followed the man._

_The man hadn't gotten far before he had caught up with him._

_"Ok, you have my attention..." He said, falling into step with the man. "How you know my name?"_

_"I know a lot of things..." the man said before letting out a sigh. "Sorry for the slur, I meant no disrespect."_

_"How you know me?" Remy said again, his voice rising._

_"I knew you in another life... Earth-616. Although I never met you, I followed you and a group of other Mutants," the man kept looking around him as if in wonder. "Especially the Saturday morning Cartoons..."_

_Remy narrowed his dark eyes at the man. "So you know what I can do?"_

_"Yes Remy, I know, and I'm in need your skills, your Cards..."_

_"Cards are my specialty."_

_The man let out a small laugh, "Yeah... Yeah they are..." The man stopped walking, he stared at a poster in front of a small deli. The poster read 'SPIDER MENACE STILL AT LARGE'. "Ha! The Daily Bugle! This is so Cool!" He pointed, smiling before pausing and looked Remy up and down. "You're younger then I thought you would be, and I'm guessing you don't have full control of your abilities yet, do you?"_

_This seemed to be a rhetorical question as the man continued from the started look he received._

_"Of course you don't, that would have been too easy..." The man continued up the street. "Guess that's one of the things the writers got right then..." he rounded on him, pointing his finger at the youth. "Let me tell you about writers Remy, they think they know everything, but even they get things wrong."_

_"How do you know about me?" Remy asked, squaring his shoulders. "I've been careful, always moving..."_

_"I know a lot about this world," the man smiled before it faltered. "Well, bits and pieces anyway." The man looked up at him. "My name is Warren, Mr. LeBeau, Warren Mears. And with me I can make you very rich, even help you with your control problem."_

_He stared at the man, looking for anything in his face that might bite him in the ass later._

_"So what do you say Gambit?" Warren said with a laugh. "Want to test your Mettle?_

* * *

"Buffy," Roberts called, dropping Xander's chart. "Carefully start rolling the blanket up." He ordered the Slayer as he reached down and unlocked the hospital beds wheels. "You, open the window." he pointed at Andrew. "No Buffy, from the feet, keep his hands connected to the blanket." He corrected her as she went to pull the blanket from his lap.

"Why?" Buffy stopped what she was doing and moved to Xander's feet. "Why does he need to keep touching it?"

"Xander is exhibiting the Powers of Gambit," Andrew informed the Slayer, Buffy just giving him an angry look. "M-Mrs. Dyson informed me, i-if he lets go, the kinetic energy will discharge." He shrunk back on himself as he opened the window.

"Discharge?" Buffy asked, now rolling the blanket up Xander's legs.

"Like the Vamps Xander dusted." Roberts informed her, Buffy stiffened before redoubling her rolling. "Tighter please Buffy..." He said taking off his own belt.

"And we're gonna have a talk about what you just said Andrew!" She hissed. "Your fault..." She muttered.

"What do you reckon Andrew? Five second fuse once out the window?" Roberts turned to the panicking face of the training Watcher.

"Traditionally, things Gambit charges explode on impact," Andrew finished with the window.

"How hard can you throw a Football?" He asked Buffy as she finished rolling the blanket into a long roll, Xander's hands resting on the top.

"Pretty Hard, why?" She gave him a look as if to say, 'Seriously?'

"Cos once I roll this into a ball," Roberts said, motioning her to stand next to him. "And wrap my belt around it, I need you to throw it out the window, as hard as you can." He placed the belt on the bed, the belt threaded through the buckle like a lasso.

"Right..." Buffy nodded. "Oooh, Xander just finished the courtyard," she looked worriedly out the window. "And he got it to look just like the Quad from Sunnydale High too. He's gonna hate having to rebuild it..."

"Aim for the fountain, hopefully the water will cushion the force of the explosion," he reassured the Slayer. "Andrew!" he called over to him.

"Yes," he rushed over.

"I'm gonna need your help," he began, delicately rolling the furthest end of the blanket roll towards him. "When I say, lift his left hand, and keep it up in the air."

"Right... I-I mean, yes." Andrew replied, his hand hovering over Xander's hands.

"Then when I say, take his right," Roberts said, pausing to look Andrew in the eyes. "I'll hand off the Blanket to Buffy, as she throws, you be ready because I'm going to push the bed away from the window, so didn't get bowled over, and keep his hands from touching anything or we're gonna have to go through this all over again."

"Andrew, what is the meaning of rushing... Good Lord!" Giles appeared in the doorway followed by Mrs. Dyson.

"Alexander..." Mrs. Dyson moved to enter the room.

"No!" Buffy and Roberts exclaimed at once.

"The blanket could explode at any moment," Roberts explained. "I'm going to get Buffy to throw it out into the courtyard..."

"But Alexander just finished the courtyard," Mrs. Dyson looked out the window. "He'll have to fix it and he hates Landscaping."

"What do you need us to do Dr. Roberts?" Giles asked.

"Close the door and brace yourselves," he said before nodding to Andrew. "Now, lift the left hand." Andrew did as he was told, the Doctor rolling the blanket across Xander's lap and over his other hand. "Then when you hear the bang," he held the rolled up bundle of blanket with one hand, careful to keep Xander's right hand sandwiched between the rolls and picked up the belt with the other. "Come in with a trauma team." At Andrew's whimper of worry he added. "Just in case."

"Yes Doctor," both Watchers said in unison, closing the door behind them, muffled shouts could be heard from the pair as they ordered medical staff to keep clear.

"Ok," he said, looping the belt around the blanket and Xander's hand several times tightly and tucking in the end of the belt. "Are we all clear on what to do?"

"Lift hand, move away from window..." Andrew whimpered.

"Play Quarterback and toss the ball into the fountain, then hit the dirt." Buffy nodded.

"Good luck," Roberts nodded to Andrew.

The training Watcher lifted Xander's hand.

"One-one-thousand," Roberts counted.

Quickly Buffy grabbed the glowing pink blanket ball.

"Two-one-thousand," he continued.

Roberts pushed the bed towards the far wall.

"Three-one-thousand," Buffy counted as well.

She stepped to the window, looking down and spotting the fountain, only slightly larger than the one from High School.

"Four-one-thousand," she continued.

She lifted her arm up and let fly the glowing bundle, only vaguely noticing the two women entering the courtyard.

"Five-one-thousand," she hissed, dropping to the floor under the window sill, hugging the wall.

* * *

They had just touched down, several members of their party tired from the trip. Then again, each passenger who disembarked from the large modified Boeing Chinook HC3 Helicopter looked a little ragged. None more so than Willow Rosenberg, dressed in a long flowing skirt and white blouse, she picked up a large satchel and pulled it over her head and shoulder. She quickly shouted over the slowing twin rotors of the vehicle to a tall woman next to her, Penny Harkness, the head Technopagan and High Priestess of the Coven.

The Witch gave her a curt nod before turning and shouting her own order to the others present, the members of the Coven sprinting into action and beginning to unload heavy equipment off the former Military Aircraft. Once satisfied orders had been heard and followed, Penny picked up her own bag, slung it over her shoulder and both began to move towards the building.

They had landed on a large section of lawn that was destined to be a new P.T. Field behind the new Magic Box as everyone was now calling it. The building was four stories tall and L shaped with a large gym attached to one end. The building was made up into several sections, The Jennifer Calendar Library and Research Labs were on the top level taking up the entire floor. Administration and Watchers Offices were on the third floor of the North Wing, followed by the Gym and Training facilities on the floors below. The Jessie McNally Memorial Hospital Wing took up three levels on the West Wing of the building and was where they were headed.

They were just coming up to a small courtyard that Willow thought was very familiar, when a small bundle of brown leather and pink sailed out a third floor window and into the fountain in the middle of the courtyard.

"What the-?" Willow began.

***Splash-BOOOOM!***

Both Witches were thrown off their feet by the blast, water and small debris of the fountain raining down on them. Although both were taken off guard, each had raised their own shield charm as they were thrown to the ground. Willow shook her head, her hands raised before her, holding the few drops of water and debris that had landed on her shield at bay, when she heard a soft "Tsk, tsk, tsk..." next to her. She turned her head to her companion. Penny was sitting up, moving her hands over herself, her shield disappearing along with the the debris covering it.

"I'm to assume that your friend in trouble is up there?" Penny said in an English accent, gesturing to the open window the explosive had flown from.

"Ahmm..." Willow let out, letting the shield go, the debris falling on top of her. As she was dusting herself off, Buffy popped her head out of the window, her eyes roaming over the destroyed fountain before landing on the two women on the ground.

"Ohhh, Wills, are you alright?" Buffy yelled down.

"Yep, that's them up there." Willow gave Buffy a thumbs up.

"Then I guess we got here just in time." She said, waving a hand in Willow's direction, the dust and water covering the redhead disappearing. Penny stood up and walked to the building. "Best make this quick then," she stopped by the wall of the building, looking up at the Window that Buffy was looking down at them from. "Move back Dear!" She called to the Slayer, pulling out a rod of metal. "We're coming up!" Not waiting for an answer she flicked her hand, the metal rod telescoping out to three feet, and holding out one end to Willow.

"Don't you think this is a bit showy?" Willow rolled her eyes at the Priestess, grabbing hold of the proffered rod.

"Willow," Penny stage whispered. "I'm about to meet Buffy Summers, one of the longest living Slayers, for the first time. Allow me to make an impression." She smiled.

"She won't care Pen." Willow sighed. "As long as we can help Xander-"

"Ready?" Penny looked up at the open window. "Up!" She called.

"Wait-!" Willow got out before both Witches arms were pulled upwards and they flew into the sky.

The ends of the metal rod glowed a cool blue as it lifted both women up and off the ground. Willow let out a shriek of alarm at the sudden take off, Penny smiling at the graceful way they glided through the air and up to the third floor window.

"You're such a show off," Willow looked sternly at her fellow Witch.

"Hey, I finally get to meet some Scoobies other than Mr. Giles and yourself," she replied. "You call it showing off, I call it displaying my abilities to my potential employers."

"Show off," Willow smiled as they grew level to the window.

"Stop!" Penny called out to the rod, the object stopping in mid air and hanging before the open window.

Buffy stood just inside the window and stared at the hovering pair.

"Buff," Willow reached a hand out. "Little help?"

"Oh, yeah..." She stepped forward and grabbed her friends hand, pulling her in. "Nice entrance... Mary Poppins would be proud."

Willow raised one leg, then the other onto the sill of the window and dropped into the room.

"We haven't quite got it that refined I'm afraid." Penny said as the Slayer reached out a hand to her. "Thank you," she nodded grabbing the offered hand. "But it sure beats taking the stairs."

"We do have Lifts Ms. Harkness," Mrs. Dyson cleared her throat from the doorway, Giles standing behind her. "They did cross the pond... Along with humility..."

"It's ok Mrs. Dye," Buffy began.

"-Son." Mrs. Dyson added, both Watchers entering the room along with a couple medical staff.

"...Quicker might be better." Buffy turned to look at Willow and the new Woman. "Sorry about the fountain..."

"S'ok, is it meant to look like the High School Courtyard?" Willow looked back out the window.

"Well... It did..." Buffy then turned to Xander, Andrew and Dr. Roberts. "Everyone ok?" She asked, shrugging off a Doctor who tried to check her for injuries from the blast.

"We didn't get 'Blowed' up," Roberts let out a nervous laugh, another Doctor checking him as well. "When I finally realise that, I should be ok..."

"Same..." Andrew added, still holding Xander's hands aloft, a nurse was shining a light into his eyes. "Plus, my nose is itchy..." He whined.

"Speaking of 'Blowed' up," Penny pointed out the window.

"Xander." Buffy, Giles and Andrew said as one.

"His hands again?" Willow moved to her friend in the bed.

"Yes," Buffy answered as Xander's bed was again placed in the centre of the room. "Andrew was just about to tell us what he knows about that." She crossed her arms and stared at the small man.

All eyes fell on the Nervous Nerd, Xander's gloved hands in front of him.

"Well..." He looked to the gloved hands. "It's... When me and Jonathan decided to go on the run in El Mèxico... We kinda stopped off at our Secret Lair..."

"Basement." Buffy interjected.

"Basement..." Andrew seemed to shrink in on himself again. "And we grabbed some things... Supplies and memento's and what not, like I grabbed my Limited Edition Boba Fett, my first edition of Harry Potter, British 'Philosopher' copy, not the American 'Sorcerer' version, my Star Trek TNG Replica Comm Badge, Tricorder and DustBuster Phaser, and my complete works of J. R. R. Tolkien..."

"Oh, the one with the gold leaf and the fold out maps and..." Penny began before realising everyone was staring at her. "But I g-guess that doesn't really matter at the mo."

"Point please Andrew..." Giles sighed.

"Well, I also picked up some of Warrens stuff too..." He paused, looking uneasy. "Including a pair of Leather, fingerless tactical Gloves." He raised Xander's hands in emphasis.

Buffy, Willow and Giles each seemed to react differently.

Giles cleaned his glasses and said. "I see..."

Willow looked closely at Xander's hands, softly muttering, "Interesting..."

"You put a pair of gloves that belonged to that Woman hating, Murderous, Psycho that shot me and killed Tara into MY Weapons Chest?" Buffy almost screamed.

"I didn't know they would do anything!" Andrew jumped at Buffy's reaction, almost dropping Xander's hands. "I just thought they were from his Cosplay wardrobe and they were cool looking... Helpful while we were 'On the Lam' from the cops and the Slay-her of the Vam-piers."

"Buffy please." Giles tried to explain to his Slayer. "It's just a Weapons Chest."

"Just a Weapons Chest?" Buffy rounded on the Watcher. "Just a Weapons Chest!"

"And you had no idea they were more than Gloves?" Penny now took notice of Xander's hands and moved closer.

"No" Andrew answered.

Penny and Willow were now on either side of the bed, Willow having taken one of the arms from Andrews grasp and examining it.

"We're ruled out all the usual suspects," Mrs. Dyson spoke up. "Chaos' Hands, Dreamer's Will, Sorcerer's Intent, Childhood Fancy..."

"No," Penny took the other hand from Andrew. "It wouldn't be anything like that... This is right up my alley, this has circuitry..."

"Besides," Willow added. "Warren wasn't magical, he was into robots and technology."

"Ah, but there is a hint of Magicks here," Penny smiled. "Yes... Maybe conjured through a... An object of some kind? As if the Conjurer wasn't especially Magical to begin with..."

"Magic Bone!" Andrew blurted out before letting a hint of a giggle out at his own words.

"I know I'm new," Dr. Roberts looked at the training Watcher, the medical staff began to leave the room. "But you're weird aren't you...?"

"Jonathan," Andrew ignored the Doctor. "Whenever he utilised the Forces of Darkness and Witchcraft, he would shake his Magic Bone."

"Ewww" Buffy exclaimed.

"It's an actual Bone Buffy," Willow looked up from her examination of the Gloves. "It's covered in Runes to anchor it in the higher realms and is bonded to the welder."

"Oh..."

"Yes, that might do..." Penny held up Xander's arm in front of herself, her other hand hovered before it as she made small hand gestures as if she was writing something on the air. "It's faint... But it is similar to what we practice in the Coven. Many of the tech we use has been bonded with our Magicks to help them work, a kind of shared shortcut if you will, until the technology has been thoroughly perfected to work on its own." As Penny finished her hand gestures her eyes turn a cloudy white and shone with a warm glow. "The Coven had Mobile Phones that fit in our pockets long before people stopped lugging around the Briefcase sized monstrosities here in the states."

She blinked a few times before intently staring at the Glove before her. Everyone was quiet as she began to move Xander's hand back and fourth. Xander stirred, quickly pulling his arms from both Witches grasps and burying his head into his pillow. Everyone but the two Wiccans let out a quick gasp as his hands fell to his chest and then down at his sides to rest on the bed.

But nothing happened.

At first.

Once again the Gloves seemed to pulse and begin to fade away before them. This time it was Penny who let out a gasp.

"Im-Impossible..." She muttered, taking a step back and shaking her head. "Nothing... Nothing can do that, the power alone..."

"What?" Buffy took a step forward.

"So, what 'bracque' thing I hafta do to get p-paid, Mears?" Xander said softly, again in a Cajun accent.

"A-and the metal..." Penny said looking his body up and down. "What kind of metal is that?" Her eyes began to shine brighter.

"Penny?" Willow stopped looking at her friend in the bed and turned to her Coven leader. "Penny? What is it? What do you see?" Willow moved to the Technopagans side and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Pen?"

"W-willow?" Penny said in a whisper, as if unsure of herself. "Where did they go? Into Nothingness" she half sobbed, half giggled before pointing at Xander's prone form. "And the Bones! Metal!"

Before anyone could say something in reply the Witch went limp in Willows arms, Buffy rushing to catch the falling Woman.

"Third Eye Incantation..." Mrs. Dyson supplied to the bewildered onlookers.

"Yes," Willow answered, brushing a lock of the Priestess' auburn coloured hair from her face.

"She should have prepared an Anchor," the Watcher continued. "The information overwhelmed her... One of the reasons Our Mages didn't perform that spell."

"Thank you Elaine," Giles dismissed the Woman as Willow gave her an angry look, her mouth opening to comment. "You may go, I'm here now, I will take over Xander's case."

"As you wish Mr. Giles," Mrs. Dyson nodded her head curtly.

"Continue overseeing the preparations of the Campus," he informed her. "I'm sure Xander will not want the workmen falling behind schedule in his absence."

"Sir," she nodded again and left the room.

"Doctor," Giles looked to Roberts. "If you could organise a stretcher and a bed for Ms. Harkness please, I'm sure she would feel better if she woke up in a proper bed and not the floor."

"Yes Mr. Giles." Roberts left the room.

"Where did you drag her from?" Willow nodded to the door just as Roberts moved passed her.

"She was fired from the Old Council a few years back, she wanted them to update their training and handling of Slayers." he sighed. "But when it comes to Magicks... She means well, but she does believe in tradition. Everything planed out and..."

"Safe?" Willow supplied.

"Well... Yes."

"Ok, so, plan." Buffy said as a gurney was wheeled in by a pair of nurses, Dr. Roberts following behind. She picked up the passed out Wiccan and placed her on the bed, just as she had done with Xander hours ago.

"We need to find out everything we can about these Gloves." Roberts spoke up. "I can share what we have so far, X-Rays, blood tests... I was going to schedule some more scans..."

"Yes, that would be better." Giles watched the nurses wheel out the gurney, now with a passenger. "No more third eye anything until that woman is walking about and can tell us what she saw."

"But those scans can only tell us so much..." Buffy looked at Xander.

"I might be able to help..." Andrew raised his hand.

"Andrew?" Giles asked.

"Well," again he looked nervous. "When I took the Gloves... I kinda, also... Grabbed his diary too..."

"His diary..." Buffy looked at the small man.

"As soon as I knew what it was I didn't read it!" Andrew said quickly.

"Who cares?" Willow and Buffy both said.

"Where is it?" Giles asked. "Did it survive Sunnydale?"

"Oh yeah, I put it in a safe place." Andrew smiled, moving to exit the room.

"Where?" Giles asked.

Andrew paused in the doorway and turned to the Watcher. "I put it with the other diaries." He shrugged.

"What?" Giles hissed.

"It's up in the Library." Andrew pointed up at the ceiling, indicating the library upstairs.

"My Library?" Giles stood open mouthed.

Yeah..." Andrew beamed, turning and heading for the elevators and the Library above.

"He... He...?" Giles turned around slowly. "He put that Mentally Deranged, Manipulative, Egotistical Bastard's Diary in amongst the Diaries of Past Watchers and Slayers?" Giles, ripped off his glasses. "In my Library?"

"Giles please..." Buffy said with a smirk. "It's just a Library."

"Just a Libra-," he almost yelled before catching himself. "Oh Harr-Harr."

* * *

**Cajun Translations:**

Au revoir tout le monde - Goodbye everyone

Bracque - Crazy

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry nothing really happened in this Chapter, but I had to do it to introduce the new Wicca Penny Harkness and reveal who designed the Gloves.

I've written a few Diary entries of Warrens that show how the Gloves came to be, look out for those coming soon.

Let me know how you like the story so far in the reviews...

I-If you like, you know, wanna review...

Please...

I'd actually like some feedback... I have needs...


	5. Of Gloves & Diaries

**Disclaimer in Chapter One - Time to Suit Up!**

**Authors Note 1:** Here's a little more of a look into what is happening to Xander and a little bit of how it came to be.

* * *

**A Week Later...**

Some of it had been a blur. Abilities manifesting by themselves, bouts of unconsciousness, followed by weird dreams of people and beings with abilities straight out of comic books and a misspent childhood.

Only not his childhood or his comic books...

They were different, and yet the same.

Costumes looked different in some of the dreams. Wolverine in a dark leather X-Man uniform, Iron Man with a different helmet design and working with The Ultimates instead of The Avengers, Gambit a teen, a hustler, living on the street, homeless, the Fantastic Four in their late teens, early twenties, Spider-Man only fifteen and working as a Webmaster instead of a photographer...

It was weird.

But it all paled compared to what was happening to him physically. He was stronger, he knew it, and he felt it. Hell, he saw it when he looked at himself topless in the mirror. Granted he had never been a complete couch potato growing up, but he'd never really had a six pack, at least not one he hadn't drawn on as a joke. Yet he was beginning to get one now. And muscles in his arms, not Hulk sized, but where there had been some slight jiggle, now was beginning to become firm muscle.

He was heavier too. The tests confirmed it daily. At first he thought it was just his arms that seemed heavy, but now his whole body felt like he was carrying a few extra pounds, or fifty. But his body didn't show it. One of the nurses had asked him, jokingly, where he kept all the extra weight, and where could she sign up. He had joked back, but deep down he had a theory...

Dr Roberts had let slip about his weird X-Rays, but ever since Giles, Andrew, Willow and the Technopagans arrived, everyone ignored his questions and pleads to see the films. They were being really tight lipped about what they revealed. Or what they didn't. But there was only one thing he could think of that would make him heavier...

His skeleton.

Wolverine.

The Gloves had changed his bones. They had given him his claws, why not his whole bone structure. Which freaked him out. A normal person's bones would basically suffocate if they were covered in metal, cut off from the rest of the body's circulatory system. Which in his mind must mean he had the man's healing factor too.

He had tested that theory one night. He had to wait for Buffy to fall asleep. If she wasn't with the research party or the Doctors, she was by his bedside. But once he was sure she was asleep one night he had made one of the claws pop out of his hand and cut several of his fingers, across the pad, only to watch them stitch themselves back together moments later, the only hint he had done any damage being a small pool of blood.

The thing that truly freaked him out about his bones was that he was starting to get use to the weight. At first he was slow to move, the feel of sandbags attached to his limbs and head a growing constant. But then one day is seemed to lift. He could move, run, jump... Climb.

His agility was a little better. Apart from the impressive handstand and impersonation of Spider-Man he had done that first day, he was slightly more fluid. He couldn't jump around like Spider-Man, or a Slayer for that matter, at least not consciously, every time he tried to recreate the handstand, he either fell on his face, or tumbled over onto his back. But he did seem to move out of the way quicker when navigating about the few times he had been allowed out of his hospital room when not going for tests. This too he believed would improve over time. A part of him excited to be able to move like his childhood hero, despite having such a heavy frame.

Who was he kidding; Spider-Man was still his favourite hero...

Besides Buffy that is.

Then there were his senses. He could see better, farther, than before. He could feel the typefaces of newspaper as he run his hand over them. He couldn't read them or make them out, but he could feel them. His taste and smell had shot through the roof. He knew that one of his doctors was sleeping with one of the nurses just from the scent of the two, they both smelt of the other every time they neared him. He could tell where a person was in the room, just be sniffing, or how long ago they had left. Then there was food. He wasn't sure if it was his actual taste buds or the hospital food, but everything he ate seemed to open up to him more than it ever had before. Mashed potatoes, something that was just a side dish to him for years was suddenly a life altering texture and flavour filled experience like no other.

Like he said, weird.

But the weirdest, and best was what had started it all.

A simple pair of tactical gloves from the weapons chest he had back at the house.

He didn't know where they had come from; he just knew he liked them. They seemed to come and go when they wanted to. One second he would be sitting there, bare handed, the next, two leather clad fingerless tactical gloves would be covering his hands. They couldn't explain it, or at least they weren't explaining it to him. The Doctors didn't know what to make of it and the Coven... Well, they were being tight lipped about everything, but Xander had his suspicions. It was the Gloves that were responsible for everything, after all, the only other time they would appear was when some of his powers would manifest.

Oh yeah...

He had powers.

The Zeppo finally had powers! And not just any powers. Wolverine's Claws and Senses, even healing, but no one had let him fully test that yet, besides his finger cutting in secret. Then again he wasn't about to jinx it either! Doing anything bigger, like stabbing himself, would look really embarrassing if he didn't have healing powers, not to mention potentially fatal. Spider-Man's Webs, what he suspected was Spider-Sense and maybe even his ability to wall crawl. Again, no one would let him test this either. He had The Human Torch's flames and The Things rock like hands and arms, not to mention his strength too. Then there were the truly dangerous powers, Iron Man's Repulsor Gauntlets, two metallic gloves that would appear over his hands and forearms and which he suspected held more weapons than the palm repulsors, and lastly, Gambits Kinetic Energy ability.

This all spelled two things...

1) He could now fight on the front lines, no longer just back up or fray adjacent.

2) Everyone was frightened for his safety.

He didn't understand all the fuss.

He felt... Fine.

Like now, he stood in the gym, dressed in sneakers, track pants and a wife beater, his body coated in a thin sheen of sweat. The gym was filled with various equipment, free weights, treadmills, sparing mats, a boxing ring, numerous punching bags and dummies and along one whole wall various training weapons and targets and bullseyes. He had been there for a couple hours, training, testing himself out.

He felt... Good.

Some of the equipment hadn't fared too well, a dummy had a few slashes cut in it and was missing a head on account of his claws, and the target bullseyes were covered in either Webs or scorch marks or blown up altogether. There was a large 'Thing' fist sized hole in one of the training mats and floor that might need a structural engineer to look at, but apart from that...

He felt... Alright.

He moved his head to the side, back and forth, the bones in his neck giving a loud crack as he did so. He rolled his shoulders a couple times before taking a few deep breaths. OK, sometimes after using his new powers in the tests he felt like a Mack Truck was sitting on his chest he was so tired. But that could be anything.

He felt... Great.

He raised his fists up at the punching bag in front of himself. He threw a punch with his left, *BAM*! He swung his right, *BAM*! He shot a quick one-two combo, *BAMBAM*. Right cross, *BAM*! Left cross, *BAM*! Body blow, body blow, body blow, *BAMBAMBAM*!

He let out a small laugh.

He felt...

"Xander!" Buffy screamed, bursting through the gym doors. "There you are!" The pissed off Slayer ran up to him, two junior slayers following.

"Buff." He acknowledged before swinging again with a great flourish of power, the bag jumping in front of him.

"Tell the others we found him," Buffy turned to one of the slayers, the girl immediately whispered into a radio. "What the hell are you doing in here?" She turned around and berated him. "You're meant to be up in the Med-Wing!"

"There's nothing wrong with me!" Xander grunted, punching the bag twice lowly before bobbing and weaving an imaginary opponent. With a huff he swung his right arm at the bag... And his fist embedded itself into the canvas up to his wrist. "Whoa! Heh!" He laughed, gently removing his gloved hand.

"Right..." Buffy rolled her eyes, "Nothing wrong with you..." She mumbled, noticing the destruction he had caused to the gym at large. "Med-Wing, now!"

"No." Xander said checking his hand. Once he was sure there was nothing wrong he turned and moved off to the next piece of equipment.

"Xander," Buffy almost whined.

"Buuuuufffffffffy..." Xander did whine back as he stood in front of the speed bag. "I've been cooped up there for a week. No one is telling me anything."

"Because we still don't know what exactly is happening to you." She pleaded with him.

"Yes, they do." He said before punching the speed bag, the small leather orb bouncing back and forth from the force. Before it slowed down he punched it again, and again with each hand, alternating in a rhythm that kept the bag in constant motion. The bag made a loud slap and banging noise as Xander's hands flew against it.

Buffy tried to talk over the noise but failed to get his attention. She placed a hand on his arm to stop him, Xander turning to face her as she asked, "What do you mean 'they do'?"

"My senses are getting stronger Buff, I hear things." He sighed.

"What things?" Buffy asked, puzzled.

"Hey, have you tried the mashed potatoes from the cafeteria here?" He asked trying to change the subject. "They're amazing! The buttery taste, the fluffy texture in your mouth..."

"What things Xand?" Buffy interrupted before he could get distracted. "Last I heard all the medical and mystical tests were inconclusive..."

"No, they just didn't make sense." Xander corrected. "They don't want to worry us until they have all the facts."

"Us?" Buffy raised an eyebrow.

"Giles, Roberts, Willow and that Lady from the Coven," Xander sighed.

"Penny Harkness" Buffy supplied the Witch's name.

"Yeah, her, well, they all whisper every now and then when they think I can't hear during the tests. They know something; they keep mentioning Andrew for some reason..."

"Andrew?" Buffy made a surprised face, trying to play dumb.

"Ma'am?" One of the younger slayers spoke up.

"What have I told you Hailey?" Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Not to call you Ma'am," the slayer, Hailey said with a sigh.

Xander chuckled, picking up a water bottle and squirting the liquid in his mouth.

"Exactly," Buffy watched Xander smile at her before spitting a spritz of water at her playfully. "What do you want?" She asked, sidestepping out of the way of the spray.

"Mr Giles, Ms Rosenberg and Ms Harkness are on their way here," she informed the duo. "Along with Mr Wells, they ask that Mr Harris-"

"Mr Harris is my Father," Xander told the Slayer, taking a quick gulp of water. "It's just Xander or Harris, no Mister."

"-Mr Harris, remain in the gym to meet them." Hailey finished, looking at her feet.

"Fine," Buffy folded her arms. "Both of you can wait outside. We'll talk about you taking over watching Mr Harris for me afterwards," Buffy raised an eyebrow at Xander as she said his name.

"Yes Ma'am..." Hailey stiffened seriously at the order.

"Not a Ma'am!" Buffy called out as the two junior Slayers left the room.

"Not with that attitude." Xander smiled at his friend.

"Funny," Buffy watched him drop the water bottle on a bench and grab a towel. "Why aren't you taking this more seriously?" She asked as he wiped his sweaty forehead and sat heavily on the bench.

"Because I don't see the seriousness about this," he sighed. "I have powers Buff, me, Xander, the Zeppo..."

Buffy fought the urge to clip him over the ear as he referred to his old high school nickname.

"You haven't been the Zeppo in years," she sat next to him. "Not that you ever truly were to begin with."

"But I was 'Just Xander'." He paused and leaned forward, playing with the towel in his hands. "I was the guy who had a normal life, a normal job. I helped out when I could, sure, but... I was the guy you called last, unless you needed a window fixed or someone to go on a donut and coffee run for that late night research party."

"And once again you sell yourself short Xander... I trusted you with Dawn," she put a hand on his back. "I wouldn't have trusted her safety with just anyone you know."

"Yeah, but that was also after I got this," he pointed at his eye patch. "And even then, she tased me and drove us back home."

"What about all those Dawn Patrols when she was younger? You looked after her then..."

"I babysat her Buff, in your house, granted it wasn't Fort Knox, but it was pretty close."

"What about the summer Willow went to England with Giles? You were with me every time I went out on patrol then."

"Yeah, right..." He sat back against the wall behind him. "Only cos I was the only one there, Dawn was only just beginning to get you to train her, Anya..." He paused as he said her name. "Anya didn't want anything to do with us; Spike was somewhere getting soul filled..." Buffy seemed to sag at the mention of Spikes name. "And Willow and Giles weren't there like you said cos Will was over with the Coven for Rehab. I only got to tag along with you cos I was the only one left."

"Jackass..." Buffy said under her breath, Xander's ear twitched at the name, a small smirk appeared on his face as Buffy continued, not realising he had heard her. "You were never useless!"

"Maybe... But now," He turned to look at the Slayer. "Now I can do something, I can go out there and fight. No more being the backup, no more waiting to be attacked, now *I* can attack." He moved closer to her. "I don't see why you all think that's such a bad thing?"

"I don't see why you think that's such a good thing..." Buffy said softly, placing a hand in his and moving closer to him, their faces mere centimetres from each other.

"Buffy..." He said softly.

"Xand, I..." Buffy swallowed. "I..." She moved closer.

"Alexander LaVelle Harris!"

Both friends jumped apart as the gym doors burst open and an upset Willow entered followed by a concerned Giles, Penny and Andrew trailing a few steps behind.

"Crap, middle name..." Xander smiled at Buffy, The Slayer returned the smile before catching herself and looking away from him.

"You're supposed to be in bed resting!" Willow marched up to her friend as he stood to greet her.

"Will, I feel fine..." He began as she put her hands on his shoulders and forced him back down on the bench.

"Yeah, sure, now," she looked to Buffy then Giles, then the gym and the various broken equipment around them. "Because you've been goofing around down here in the gym, but we all know sooner or later you're gonna crash like all the other times you engage in vigorous activity or worse, use your powers."

"There's nothing wrong with using these powers," he stood again. Willow moved to put her hands on his shoulders to make him sit down once more, but Xander moved too quickly for her. He grabbed both her hands in front of her, twirled her body around his as if they were dancing and dropped her on the bench. "See? Nothing wrong..." He said backing away from a slightly confused, then annoyed Willow.

"Xander!" Willow and Buffy both exclaimed.

"What?" Xander stopped and leaned on the edge of the boxing ring. "I'm fine." To illustrate his point he reached up to the ropes of the boxing ring behind him, pulled them down and let them spring back as he pushed off the ground. The momentum of the move and the ropes carried him up and over the rope in a standing somersault, a move that wasn't quite, but wasn't unlike, a movement Spider-Man would be proud of.

"Cool!" Andrew blurted out looking up at the man as he landed on his feet with barely a sound. "I didn't know you could do that! How did you do that?"

"No idea." Xander turned serious, leaning on the ropes of the ring. "And we won't find out if I'm in a hospital bed all the time!"

"Xander..." Willow began, standing along with Buffy.

"No Will!" Xander said sternly, taking a step back. "I have theses abilities now." To emphasise his point he produced his claws with a dual *SNIKT*. "I could be out there, fighting!" He pointed with his claws at a window. "I could be helping!" He said, his voice wavering and changing slightly. He retracted his claws and fired a shot of Web fluid up at the ceiling with a *THWIP*. He jumped and swung on the webbing around the ring before landing on a corner post of the ropes and crouching in a pretty good imitation of Spider-Man. "But you all want me to stay cooped up!" He sneered in a voice that was not his own, but was familiar to the the Sunnydale natives.

"W-Warren..." Andrew whispered to himself.

Xander stood up with a balance he didn't have before and yelled "Flame on!" Everyone took a step back as both his hands and forearms burst into flames. "I could clear whole nests of Vamps in a single blow!" He yelled, this time Andrew knew he recognised the voice. Before he could speak up Xander snapped off a quick "Flame off."

Without warning Xander jumped backwards, back to the mat of the boxing ring. "It's Clobbering Time!" He yelled in a mix of Warren Mears and Ben Grimm, punching his right fist into his left palm, his hands and forearms once again grew large, rocky, and orange.

"N-no..." Andrew stared.

"Xander...!" Giles stepped forward.

Buffy, wide eyed, took a step back and towards the free weights; she had recognised the voice and knew something wasn't right with her friend. Andrew stood frozen as he listened to Xander speak, the voice of Warren Mears chilling him to his bones. Willow looked frightened for her friend, the screams of the person she had murdered long ago echoing in her head as he spoke.

"Please, Xand..." Willow began.

"I could beat down demons quicker than any Slayer!" Warren's voice bellowed from him, interrupting the Witch. "But you," he pointed a thick orange finger at Willow. "You want me to lay down and let everyone else risk their lives, just so I stay your Xander Shaped Friend!" He sneered, his face contorting into an angry mask.

Buffy moved silently around the ring, a ten pound barbell in her hand.

Xander hit his fist into his open palm again and his arms began to melt and return to normal. "I can do all these things to help!" Warren's voice yelled again, the tactical gloves now appearing on his hands, a faint reddish purple glow ebbed and flowed across them in time with his breathing. "But you won't let me cos you're all afraid! Just like 'Snivelling' Whinathan, and 'Follow the Leader' Andrew!" Warren's voice spat at the training Watcher.

Buffy quickly pulled herself up into the ring, rolling under the ropes and into a crouching position. The barbell was in her hand and above her head, ready to swing at her friend. Xander felt the familiar buzz at the back of his head and instantly knew where Buffy was and what she was planning on doing to him.

"You're all afraid!" He repeated again in Warren's Voice, turning on Buffy, one hand now covered with the large Red and Gold Repulsor Gauntlet, his palm glowing a bright blueish-white as he pointed his outstretched hand at the Slayer. His other hand was raised above his head, the tactical glove covering his hand as he rubbed his thumb and middle finger back and forth, pink sparks of energy crackled and surged between his fingertips.

"Xander!" Penny, head of the Technopagan Coven called out. "This isn't you!" She reached out with her arms, muttering to herself.

"Xand, listen to her..." Buffy looked up at him, lowering her own makeshift weapon. "Please..."

"That's right Slayer..." Warren's voice sneered. "B-beg... For m-mercy... I?" He faltered, his hands wavering before him, as if something inside him was struggling with his actions.

"It's the Gloves!" Penny called out, her own hands now glowing white as she moved them about before her. "They are tainting his aura!"

"Xander, think about what you are doing," Giles called out to him. "That is Buffy, your friend."

"S-slayer..." Xander ground out. His began voice mixing between Warren and his normal tone. "I have to..." He shook his head. "I-I have to... Summers must d-die!"

"Warren!" Andrew yelled suddenly.

"W-what...?" Xander's whole body visibly shook.

"We know where the gloves came from!" Andrew continued.

"Andrew!" Giles hushed the training Watcher.

"No Mr Giles," he turned on his teacher. "It's the failsafe I was worried about, we have to tell him." He turned back to the frozen tableau in the middle of the ring. "The gloves were originally Warrens, I kept them from back in Sunnydale along with some other things I stole before Jonathan and I fled to El México..."

"W-Warren..." Xander said in his own voice as he looked to his outstretched palm and then Buffy, crouched on the mat, the barbell in her hand. "Oh my god... B-Buffy?"

As if a pile of bricks landed on his shoulders he fell to his knees, Buffy instantly at his side. He folded in on himself, pulling his hands to his chest, the glowing repulsor gauntlet and sparking fingers remained. Buffy held him in her arms as he began to shiver slightly.

"W-what..." He muttered to himself, his voice normal again. "What am I d-doing...?" He rocked back and forth as Buffy patted him gently on his back.

"It's ok, it's ok," Buffy soothed.

"Xander..." Willow rushed the platform, up onto the canvas of the ring and to her friends side.

"The gloves," Penny began, lowering her hands and stepping forward along with Giles and Andrew. "We believe they were designed by Warren Mears..."

"W-Warren?" Xander looked up, the glow of the repulsor flared for a second, followed by a few pink sparks. He flinched, pulling his arms closer to his chest.

"Yeah..." Andrew sighed. "And only for him..." He looked down at his feet, embarrassed. "S-Sorry..."

A growl escaped Xander's lips and he shook Buffy and Willow off him, the movement taking both off guard. "You betrayed me Andrew!" Warren's voice yelled, Xander standing and pointing the repulsor at the young man. "You're in league with the Slayer Bitch!"

Andrew stood wide eyed as the whine of the repulsor powering up rose around the room. As Xander fired, two things happened. Buffy stood and tackled Xander, moving his arm up and away from the frozen Training Watcher. The other was Giles grabbing Andrew by the collar and practically throwing him away from the beam's path and to the safety of the mat lined floor.

"Unhand me Summers!" Warren's Voice bellowed as she sat on Xander's back. "I have to kill the traitor, and then you're next!" He struggled underneath Buffy as she held both his hands above him, palms faced downward. "I... I... Kill you...! I... I..." He began to weaken, his voice wavering. "I... No... I can't... I... B-Buffy... Help me..." He whimpered his voice normal once more, his body sagging and going limp as he lost consciousness. His hands melted back to the tactical gloves which flashed Dark Red and disappeared from his hands as if nothing had happened.

"What was that?" Buffy turned to her friends with a growl.

"A fail safe," Andrew said softly, standing and brushing himself off.

"Someone better start with the 'splainy!" She said standing slowly.

"Yes, we will," Giles said, taking his glasses off and polishing them. "But first we must get Xander up to the Medical Wing, now!"

* * *

_It was almost complete. Almost. He just had to get the spell from Jonathan, key it to himself and he was all set to take on the Slayer, once and for all._

_He had been going back and forth through the portal for months now and the two rubes hadn't noticed a thing. Then again his Robo-Warren was his most sophisticated robot to date. But what else would it be when he had incorporated the plans for the Life Model Decoy from his trips into the Alternate Universe. It was much more than a robot, not just wires and metal and plastic, it was practically alive. It had blood, a heartbeat, brainwaves; it even breathed and ate food. Granted it didn't get oxygen or sustenance from those actions, they were only there to add to the illusion of life, but it still did them._

_It had even been good enough to get into Stark Tower and access to Iron Man's Gauntlets._

_Ok, so it had had to give the plans of its own design to the company to get hired to gain that access to them, but it had worked! Who cared if it was fired a few days later? He had another piece of the puzzle._

_A puzzle that was slowly growing._

_And so the Warren LMD or W-LMD had taken his place amongst the trio when he was away._

_He smiled to himself as he ran through the W-LMD's actions over the last week. They were close to tracking down the Nezzla Demon lair, and the cave that housed the Orbs of Nezzla'khan, and once he had those, and the Ultimate Gloves..._

_The Slayer would die._

* * *

Xander woke up with a start, the last thoughts of the dream still in his mind.

'The Slayer would die...'

He sat up quickly and noted he was back in his hospital room. He looked at his gloved hands and then to the door to his room. Through the blind covered window he could just make out two shapes standing guard of his room.

'Slayers...' He thought.

He was afraid.

For the first time he feared the Gloves. And just what he might do...

Swallowing nervously, slowly getting out of bed, his eye on the door and the two slayers that stood watch of his room. He made up his mind, gathering his things from the room and moving to the window.

"I'm not him..." He said to the room. "I won't hurt them... I won't hurt her." He opened the window. "I'm not the monster you want me to be..." He looked at his gloves hands. "Never again..."

Without another word he climbed up onto the windowsill and out. He took a deep breath and raised one of his hands. With a quick *Click-THWIP!*, he shot a web, staring at his hand as he steeled himself. Taking one last look back into the room he closed the window behind him and swung.

* * *

They were gathered in a conference room in the Watchers Wing of the Magic Box. Many X-Rays, scans and charts were hanging up around the room, papers and research books were spread out on the table and the few chairs that weren't seating Giles, Buffy, Willow, Roberts, Penny and Andrew. In the middle of the table were a conference speaker phone and a small pyramid shaped metal object.

"The diary talks about a failsafe..." Giles began, he placed the diary onto the large oak table before him.

"You mean what Xander did in the gym?" Buffy asked, still not pleased the others were keeping secrets from her. "The whole channeling Warren thing?"

"We're not sure..." Penny answered. "Maybe, he doesn't go into details a lot of the time."

"Why not?"

"In case me or Jonathan eventually read the diary." Andrew frowned. "He was really secretive, even with us, his fellow Super Villains."

Buffy rolled her eyes as his classification of The Trio.

Giles picked up the diary and opened it to an entry.

* * *

**The Diary of Warren 'Cole' Mears**

**_Nov, 15th, 2001_**

_I have to be careful now. Jonathan is asking more and more questions._

_"Why do you need this spell?"_

_"Why can't we tell Andrew what we're doing?"_

_"Why can't you tell *Me* what we're doing?"_

_He still hasn't realised that if I could perform the Magic myself I wouldn't even need his help. Either way, I can't keep playing dumb; sooner or later he will figure out what I'm building, no matter what I tell him._

_That's why I'm installing 'The Failsafe'. If anyone but me uses these Gloves... Let's just say it's a pretty smart piece of coding if I do say so myself._

* * *

Giles finished reading and closed the book, placing it on the table and taking off his glasses.

"Ok... So, coding?" Buffy looked to Willow and Penny.

"This is just speculating... But Warren was a Robot Builder right?" Penny asked the group.

"Yeah... He made himself a robot girlfriend to love him..." Willow said before a shudder rolled down her spine. "As well as others..." She gave a quick look at Buffy before looking away. "He even made a duplicate of himself."

"Yes, the diary mentions that..." Penny reached across the table and picked up the diary.

She found the entry and began to read.

* * *

**_Nov, 9th, 2001_**

_Now that I have two duplicates it's getting harder and harder to slip back and forth between the portals. There is so much data to go through before the swap to make it seamless. It looks so much easier in the comics._

_But that's beside the point._

_The UM-LMD got fired today. Stark caught him with the gauntlets at his workstation, threatened to throw him in jail if he ever saw his tech out in the streets. The UM-LMD almost went off code and put the Gloves on to attack him. I'm not sure what the Gloves would have done to the LMD had it actually followed through and worn them, the design flaw isn't compatible with the LMD power source._

_The bigger question is, what was the UM-LMD doing with the Gloves in the first place? The prototypes are in the lab in New York, yes, but it wasn't programmed to work on them. Maybe I shouldn't have coded so much of myself into the Warren LMD's software..._

* * *

Penny finished reading out the entry and looked up. "He mentions writing the code for his duplicates," Penny looked around the room. "The Operating System."

"The tech that makes the Gloves is derived from the robot tech, I'm sure of it." Willow added. "It looks similar to the Buffybot's circuitry, from when I used to make repairs."

"So the failsafe could be a version of that OS." Penny continued. "The Warren LMD's personality."

"Tapping into his body and overriding his own..." Dr Roberts paused, thinking of the right wording.

"Mind?" Willow added.

"Software?" Roberts counterpointed.

"Software." Penny nodded.

"But what is the failsafe's goal?" Buffy looked to the Priestess.

"We're not sure..." Penny sat back deflated. "So far nothing we've tried to access the source code has worked."

"And she's talking both magically and technologically." Willow added.

"But the failsafe isn't our major problem," Giles stood and walked around the table and picked up the diary again. "That last entry mentioned it." He informed the Slayer.

"What?" Buffy looked between them all.

"There was a design flaw." Roberts spoke up.

"The passing out," Giles flipped through the diary before arriving to the passage he was looking for. "May 4th, 2002..." Giles began to read.

Willow gasped and Buffy reached a hand out to her friend, giving Willow's hands on the table a comforting squeeze, both girls recognising the date as a few days before Tara's death.

* * *

**_May 4th, 2002_**

_I might have uncovered a solution to my design flaw._

_The Orbs of Nezzla'khan._

_No power source is small enough to fit into the Gloves, even in both Universes. I could incorporate some of Stark's Irontech, but those power sources would only fit on a belt or backpack. And if I have to start building accessories, I might as well rip off the whole armor._

_Andrew might like that, but then he would fawn over me even more... So, no._

_No power source is small enough._

_That was until I mentioned to Andrew I needed something to help power a 'gadget'. His face lit up as soon as he realised he could help me. He told me about these demons and these orbs of theirs. They grant superhuman strength and physical invulnerability. Seeing as I've managed to incorporate these powers into the Gloves already I'm hoping to use the orbs to power them instead._

_It's going to be complicated transferring the source of power, but hopefully once I do, the Gloves will never run out. The transformation requires a lot of power at the beginning, but once it's finished... I'll be the man I've always wanted to be... The man I could have been had I not been born to this pathetic supernatural world._

_A Mutant._

_Then when I'm a Mutant and the Gloves have powered up, I'll finally be able to kill that bitch of a Slayer._

* * *

"I'll finally be able to... Ahem..." Giles paused in his reading, sitting down in his seat. "Kill that bitch of a Slayer..." He finished quickly, closing the book and taking off his glasses.

"But I ripped off his magical fanny pack and smashed his magic orbs" Buffy looked to the Watcher, Dr Roberts winced at the visual her chosen words conjured up. "And he never used any of the powers Xander has now."

"We think he never got around to installing the Gloves with the orbs power Buffy," Willow spoke up.

"Never got round to it?" The Slayer eyed her friend, Willow not meeting her eyes and staring at her hands.

"From what Andrew and yourself described of the incident," Giles looked at her. "We are under the impression that once he was exposed to the orbs he got a little..." Giles watched Willow and how uncomfortable she looked.

"Power drunk." Andrew answered for him, oblivious of what was going on.

"Err... Yes" Giles sighed.

"O-ok," Buffy kept watching her friend. "I can see that... Wills?"

"I'm ok Buffy." She shook her head and then looked up at the blonde. "It's just all the talk of Warren... I've been trying to avoid having to deal with him, I haven't even tried to read the diary, I don't like being in the same room as it." She cast a dark look at the small spiral bound, dog eared notebook.

"So," Buffy turned from her friend, giving her hand another squeeze of comfort. "What's powering the Gloves if the Orbs never were? Last I looked, Xander isn't exactly magical."

"Well... That's not entirely true." Penny added.

"Huh?"

"He was born on a Hellmouth Buffy." Willow said.

"So were you," Buffy added. "And you have more power than Xander."

"It's not the same." Willow turned to Penny.

"Xander was born, grew up and was there till the Hellmouth collapsed." Penny explained. "He never left..."

"Well," Willow quickly added as Buffy looked to interrupt. "He did spend a few weeks in Oxnard, but it doesn't really count as he was still in a close radius of the Hellmouth's pull."

"Those powers had to have had an impact on him." Penny continued. "Not to mention the few possessions he has had over the years."

"Ok," Buffy shook her head. "So he has magic energies..."

"Chaos energies actually." Penny corrected.

"...Those are what's powering the Gloves?" Buffy continued, looking around the group, each looked uneasily about at each other.

"Possibly..." Roberts finally spoke.

"Could you try another Third Eye incantation?" Buffy asked. "Could that help narrow it down?"

"No!" Penny almost snapped.

"No?"

"What she means Buffy," Willow spoke up. "Is that nothing else can be gleamed from that incantation..."

"Once was enough..." Penny muttered.

"You still haven't explained what you saw." Buffy looked right at the Technopagan.

"She has," Willow looked at her hands on the table. "The Coven was able to pull what she saw from her, it... It's not good."

"What do you mean?" Buffy narrowed her eyes at them both.

"Willow," Giles spoke up, picking up a remote off the table and pointing it at the wall. "Show her." He pressed a button on the remote and the lights began to dim.

Willow stood up and gestured with a hand to the middle of the table. Buffy looked at her, confused by her actions before she was distracted by the small pyramid on the table before her. It began to shine bright, the apex of the pyramid splitting open as light began to fill the air above the table, the light coalescing into a detailed form. Buffy sat, her mouth open as she took in what she was seeing. At first she wasn't sure what it was, it looked like something from a Hollywood blockbuster, but everyone else didn't look surprised.

"Wait... Is that...?" Buffy pointed up at the light show.

"Xander's Bone, Blood and Nervous systems," Roberts spoke up. "A three-dee representation of every scan we've been able to perform, both Medical and Mystical."

"His bones..." Buffy stood to get a closer look. "There's..."

"They're completely covered in Metal, Buffy," Willow gestured with her hands and the image moved, zooming into one of his forearms. "And he now has extras..."

Three 11 inch blades resided just above his radius and ulna. Without thinking Buffy lifted her arm up to touch the bones in front of her, her hand moving through the light, much to her own surprise.

"He has the claws? Permanently?" Buffy asked, looking at her hand as the projection of the arm bones danced across her fingers.

"Yes," Roberts nodded. "Even if we manage to get the Gloves off, his Skeleton will be permanently altered. We think this was part of Warrens plan all along, as he said in his diary, to turn himself into a Mutant. In this case, Logan."

"Mutant?" Buffy asked. "As in the Turtle variety?"

"No, as in the next evolution of Man," Roberts smiled grimly. "Not Homo sapiens like us, " he pointed to himself, Andrew and Giles. "But Homo superior, like you Buffy, and quite possibly, Willow and Penny."

"I'm a Mutant?" Buffy eyed him.

"In a Supernatural kind of way..." He began before noticing the look on her face. "It's not a bad thing! By all definitions of the word, Slayers and maybe to an extent, Wicca's could be classed as the next evolutionary step. Although it wouldn't be apparent until Slayers start to have children and again, maybe if those children start to exhibit abilities... Then again, Nikki Woods did have a son... And Robin doesn't have any powers... So to speak... So maybe I could be wrong..." He began to mutter to himself. "Or maybe it sticks to the Female offspring, like the Chosen line did..."

"Doc?" Buffy clicked her fingers in front of the man's face.

"Huh?" He quickly looked at her with wide eyes. "Oh, sorry, did I mention I'm really glad I took this job?" He looked to Giles.

"Once or twice." Giles smirked at the Doctor.

"So the metal...?" Buffy asked.

"Adamantium," both Roberts and Andrew said as one.

"Adam-anty-um," Buffy butchered the pronunciation in her own special way. "Will be..." She paused looking for the right word.

"Bonded to his bones for the rest of his life," Roberts and Andrew said together.

"Stop that!" Buffy turned to scowl at the two.

"Sorry," they said together.

"Will, zoom out again." Buffy turned back to the projection.

Willow gestured again with her hands and the image zoomed out again to show his whole skeleton once more. That's when Buffy noticed two more outlines that ran parallel with both his blood vessels and his nervous system.

"What are those?" Buffy pointed to the outline of Xander's heart.

Willow let out a sigh and zoomed in again where Buffy had pointed. This time a close up of Xander's heart filled the projection. It appeared red and seemed to beat and pulse to simulate Xander's actual heart. It looked healthy, or at least to Buffy it did, except it seemed to be pulsing between Red, Blue and Purple. Spider web like lines crisscrossed all around the organ and up into his blood vessels. The colours seemed to pulse from the center out, first blue, then Purple then back to its fleshy coloured red.

"That is what we believe is powering the Gloves..." Willow said dejectedly. "It seems to be drawing energies from his very core, his life force."

"What does that mean?" Buffy turned from the projection to look at her friend.

"It means that every time Xander uses the Gloves, he shortens his life." Penny spoke up, looking at her hands with a sigh. "That's why he seems to pass out after he uses them, it's literally sucking the life from him."

"Can you remove the Gloves?" Buffy turned from the Technopagan to Roberts. "Surgically or... Or something?"

"Buffy, it's not that easy..." The Doctor stood and waved his hand at the projection. The image moved out from Xander's heart and showed his chest and ribcage. "You see the small thread like connections that surround his heart?" Buffy nodded as Roberts pointed. "They appear in seventy-eight percent of his body and that number is slowly growing."

"Just three days ago it was at forty-five percent." Penny informed the Slayer.

"It's integrating itself into every major and minor organ, muscle, bone and tissue in his body." Roberts moved his hands at the image and it changed to an outline of Xander's body, the bone and tissue visible, the threads highlighted throughout his body in a bright purple. "And they all originate..." Roberts gestured again, the image zooming into a close up of one of Xander's hands.

"From the Gloves..." Buffy let out a sigh, almost falling back into her seat as she processed the information. "So the things are permanent. And they're gonna kill him." She placed a hand on her forehead and rubbed her temple. "Jackass!" She whispered.

Giles flashed a small smirk on his face at his Slayer's choice of words, thinking on the two friends relationship, or lack thereof, when he caught himself. He quickly looked away from the group and began to clean his glasses.

"How long has he got?" Buffy looked between Roberts, Penny and Willow.

"That..." Willow paused.

"...We're not too sure on." Penny finished.

Roberts returned to his seat, Giles turning on the lights again and Willow turning off the Projection. "If he stops using the Gloves altogether... There's no reason he couldn't live to the ripe old age of eighty-something, we just don't know how much he's shaved off his life from the flare ups and tests he's had in the past week. But if he continues to use the Gloves-"

"He's not gonna stop." Buffy smiled grimly.

"Could be a week, could be a month... But it's gonna happen much, much sooner." Roberts ignored her quiet comment, even as Giles and Willow nodded their agreement with the Slayer.

The group got quiet as each thought about the man and the predicament he had gotten himself into this time.

"I swear he does this crap just so his life won't get too boring." Buffy said, staring at the table.

"Well..." Andrew looked nervous again. "We... We might be able to help him..."

"What?" Buffy quickly looked at the Training Watcher.

"Show her the portal." Andrew looked to Penny.

Penny looked nervous as well, playing with a small thumb drive in her hand. "It's just a theory at this stage." She raised her hand, palm out and the thumb drive lifted from her hand and inserted itself into the pyramid on the table. With another wave of her hand the lights dimmed again and the pyramid powered up once more. "But some of the Coven believe we might be able to recreate the portal that Warren had Jonathan help him open."

"To what end?" Buffy asked, staring at the large platform that was being displayed in the air in front of her.

"We think that if we can get Xander into the same universe as where the Gloves were made, then some of the residents could help him remove them. They're far more advanced than we are. I could possibly make something like the Gloves with my Technopagan Magicks," Penny stared at the Slayer. "But they would always be more Magicks then Techno."

"But in the Marvel universe?" Andrew continued. "Tech reigns supreme."

"The Magicks in the Gloves were always the way Warren was going to power them." Penny took over. "So the problem with removing them lies in the Tech side of the Gloves, and that means he'll need help from the big four."

"The big four?" Buffy parroted.

"Reed Richards, Hank Pym, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner." Andrew supplied.

"Not to mention possible help from Sue Storm, Hank McCoy, Charles Xavier, Peter Parker..." Roberts began to count off.

"I get it, egg-heads abound other there..." Buffy held up a hand to stop the Doctor. "But how long would it take before we could open the portal? And what happens to Xander in the meantime? The Gloves are killing him!"

"We've thought about that..." Penny gestured to the pyramid and the image changed from the blueprints of the portal to two objects of similar design, one slightly smaller than the other. Both images cycled back and forth between various states. One moment they looked cylindrical, the next they seemed to burst and break apart into the components that made them up, notes and information flashing across the projection. Once more the image changed and the two cylinders came back together in one piece, shrunk and moved into the outline of two bodies.

"Two?" Buffy asked, staring at the devices.

"One for Xander," Roberts began. "And another for a Chosen One."

"Chosen One?" Buffy looked to the Doctor. "Not a Slayer?"

"A slayer wouldn't be strong enough." Roberts told her.

"That's a slayer with a lowercase 's'," Andrew spoke up. "A post S-Day slayer."

"A newbie..." Roberts nodded, turning to Penny.

"One of the ingredients it uses is the 'Chosen Lifeline of an Old Warrior', a long living Slayer." Penny informed her.

"Capital 'S' on that Slayer." Andrew jumped in. "Capital 'S', Chosen Slayer, lowercase 's', Scythe Spell slayer."

"So, me or Faith then..."

"Yes." The Technopagan nodded.

"Xander won't like that idea..."

"Well he'll have too," Willow nodded sharply.

"We're calling it the M.A.R.," Andrew began. "Mystical A-"

At that moment the door to the conference room burst open and one of the slayers from the Gym ran inside, stopping short of the table as six sets of eyes looked at her annoyed. The girl went pale in the face at the force of the gazes before she stood to attention before Buffy.

"I thought I told you to keep an eye on Xander Hailey." Buffy said sternly, she turned to Willow and flashed her eyes to the projection and back to the Witch.

Willow caught on and gestured with her hand at the pyramid, the projection shutting itself off and the pyramid closing.

"Yes ma'am," Hailey said quickly, her gaze not moving as she stared ahead into the middle distance. "It's just..."

"Don't call me Ma'am," Buffy let out a sigh, several people at the table smiling at the outburst. "What did he do now?"

"We... Ah..." Hailey's posture faltered. "He's missing... Again. We've searched the campus, we can't find him." She looked ready to finish when she quickly said. "I-I think he might have climbed out the window of his room."

Buffy opened her mouth to speak before she paused and cocked her head to the side in thought. "His room is on the third floor, isn't it?"

"Yes Ma'am." Hailey said quickly. "We found a string of webbing on one of the Courtyard walls."

"Told you he's not gonna stop..." Buffy hung her head.

"Ma'am," Hailey added. "Several stakes, a Slayer pack of supplies and his car are missing."

"Great!" Buffy got up and left the room, Giles and Willow following her out.

* * *

**A/N 2: **There you go, some interesting developments, life force draining, a hidden Warren personality, a pair of mysterious M.A.R.'s and the blueprints to a portal. I hope you don't think it was a cop out to set this chapter a week after the last, but I wanted them to have a valid timeframe to have come up with some of the answers given.

The explanation of the Upper and Lowercase spelling of Slayer is something me and my friends have debated about quite a bit. Seeing as there are hundreds of slayers now then how would you distinguish between The Chosen, the Slayers who fought on S-Day, or the remaining slayers who are being rounded up to be trained? Simple rules I know, but I like the idea that there is a difference between the three types of Slayers.

Chosen Slayers: Any Slayer who was called as a result of the previous Slayer dying. i.e. Buffy, Kendra, Faith...

Slayer: A Slayer in Training who fought on the Hellmouth on S-Day. i.e. Vi, Rona, Amanda...

slayer: a slayer found after the Scythe Spell was cast on S-Day. i.e. Hailey, Mia (The slayers who were told to guard Xander)

Next up: Searching, running away, Vampires, a Dark Slayer, a Little Sister, 'Jackass' name calling and Surgeries...

Please review, I recently got diagnosed as Diabetic, so now that I can't have sugar I need something that isn't cookies to fill the void.


	6. Up All Night, To Dust Vampires

**Disclaimer in Chapter One - Time to Suit Up!**

**Authors Note 1:** Hey guys, again, sorry this one took so long, Real Life got in the way, seriously, life would be so much better if I didn't have to deal with RL all the time... *SIGH*

Something a little different this chapter, but its something I've wanted to do for a while in a fic, (I toyed around with this when I wrote my Repo! The Genetic Opera ficlet over on tthfanfic). Hopefully it works in context to what's going on in this chapter.

P.S. XH & The Ultimate Gloves is posted on tthfanfic too, its 2 chapters ahead and this chapter ends on a cliffhanger, I will update this one after the weekend, so either you can find out what happens straight away, or wait it out three days, your choice.

And some new forms of communication:

"Speech"  
*Sound Effect*  
~Comm's or Radio~  
#Singing#

* * *

He moved quickly or as quickly as the traffic at that time of night allowed. He had to get as far away from his friends as quickly as possible.

Possession.

It couldn't just be some cool Gloves that gave you abilities any kid would be envious of. No, not with his luck. No, with his luck it turned out that they were made by the woman hating psycho that had murdered his friend.

Oh, bonus, he might start acting like the woman hating psycho that had murdered his friend and try to murder the rest of his friends.

He honked his horn a few times as he passed a few slow cars, weaving in and out of traffic as he made his way across the city. "Come on!" He yelled at the car in front of him as it refused to pick a lane. "Move!" He pounded the horn a few more times, *BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEE-CRACK!*

He looked down at his hand, his fist buried into the steering wheel, before the airbag suddenly deployed. The large balloon inflated in front of him in a second, his hand almost crashing into his face from the force of the cushion before it popped from a hint of claw that had sprung fourth from his knuckles. He swerved the car off the road and into an alleyway, crashing into a series of trash cans before stopping just short of a collection of dumpsters at the other opening.

Shaking the dust from the airbag off his head and spitting it from his mouth he looked down at the remains of his now broken and useless sterling wheel column. He sat; amazed the wheel had still worked as he had turned off the road. He looked at his hand in the middle of the wheel and pulled it from the wires and airbag remains. The claws on his right hand had popped out of his knuckles about an inch long. Taking a calming breath as his head seemed to still be buzzing from the accident he spoke to himself.

"Ok, keep it together..." He stared at his hand. "Don't get upset, that way leads to the dark side. Calm blue oceans, calm blue oceans, you don't have a murderer living inside of you, calm blue oceans..." The claws retracted, his flesh healing from where they had pierced his skin on their way out. "There... Just gonna have to remember that I guess. Emotions equal abilities appearing. " He blew out another calming breath and reached out to adjust the rear view mirror. As he removed his hand a face smiled at him from the back seat.

"Hi ya Harris!" Warren waved.

"Ahh!" Xander let out, startled, spinning in his seat, both sets of claws popping from his hands. He raised them up ready to attack.

The seat was empty.

* * *

She let out a yawn as she climbed out of the back of the van and stretched out her cramped muscles. "From now on," she turned around to the other Slayers that were piling out of the vehicle. "If I ain't drivin', I get permanent 'Shotgun', got it?"

The various girls each gave out half-hearted groans as they too worked out the kinks.

"Or we put a bed in the back of the van, so I can just sleep the whole time." She smiled turning around to the building again. "Amongst other things..."

"Pass!" A slightly taller brunette said from her side.

"You can't say 'Pass' Little B. It's my squad, my rules."

"Yeah..." Dawn looked at the Dark Slayer before her. "Don't care Faith, I only agreed to you picking me up at the airport cos it was on your way. Just cos you don't know the rules to 'Shotgun' doesn't mean you can call permanent 'dibs'."

"Squad leader," Faith said, drawing out the words. "Vi, back me up."

A redhead with short hair hidden under a hat paused, unpacking the Squad's gear to look at the woman. "Don't make me pick between one of my friends and my Head Slayer, that's not fair." Vi sighed, slinging a bag over her shoulder. "Ask someone else."

Various 'No thank you's', 'Leave me out of it', and 'On your own girl' where her only responses.

"You guys suck!" Vi pouted.

"We were in sight of the Van, Faith," Dawn smiled at her friend. "Rules clearly state, once the vehicle is in visual range, the first to call 'Shotgun' is awarded the seat. In the event of two or more calls at the same time, whoever reaches the car first is awarded the seat. You neither called or got to the van first, you lost."

"Who's making up these rules?" Faith quirked an eyebrow at the girl.

"Standard Scooby rules." Dawn turned and headed towards the large building they had parked in front of. "Willow, Xander and their friend Jessie came up with them years ago. Now hurry up, we got to see how Xander's doing..."

"He's been lying on his ass for a week," Faith followed her. "He's probably goin' nuts by now." She smiled as they approached the hospital doors.

They were maybe ten paces from the doors when they flew open and a determined Blonde came sweeping out, trailed by two slayers and an arguing Giles.

"Hey B," Faith turned serious at the Chosen when she noticed the look on her face. "What's the hubbub? Boytoy OK?"

"He ran, again," Buffy didn't break her stride, heading to the car park. "He just left!"

"Buffy please, calm down." Giles continued his argument.

"Giles, he just left!" Buffy rounded on the Watcher. "He doesn't know what's happening to his body..."

"Xander?" Dawn looked between the two. "He's gone?"

"Yeah, he just climbed out a window," Buffy turned to look at her Sister. "Geez, you look like hell."

"Red eye Buffy," Dawn crossed her arms. "Kind of hard not to look like hell on one of those."

"X-Man climbed out a window?" Faith asked, surprised.

"Appropriate choice of words," Buffy turned to her fellow Chosen. "He swung out on a web line. I'm heading out to see if I can find him, you coming?"

Faith looked at the assembled group that was now standing around them. "Yeah, sure, then you can fill me in."

"Let's go," Buffy turned and headed straight for the van Faith and Dawn had just gotten out of. "Can we use that?" She pointed at the vehicle.

"I guess..." Faith followed, along with Giles, Dawn and the two slayers Faith didn't recognise.

"Cool," one of the slayers, Mia, called out, "Shotgun!"

"I'm gonna hit her," Faith grumbled.

"No, I'm shotgun," Buffy shot the slayer down. "One of you guys drive." She called over her shoulder, getting into the front passenger seat.

"Guess I can't stop you..." Giles sighed. "Girls," he called to the Slayers from Faith's squad who were still unloading bags out of the van. "Put a weapons pack back in the van and hand over your radios." He quickly grabbed a radio from one of the Slayers and switched it on, turning it to a channel. "Here," he handed it to Buffy through her open window. "You're on Tac. Three, if Xander remembers the new guidelines he should be on the same channel. Try him on there while you look for him. We'll let you know if the Coven is able to track him down."

"Thanks." Buffy smiled at the man, Faith and the two slayers hopping into the Van, Faith grumbling as she got into the back. "He'll be ok, won't he?"

"Sure," Giles smiled as for a second Buffy looked like a scared little girl. "After his scare in the gym this afternoon I don't think he'll be using his abilities willy nilly..."

* * *

*SNIKT*

His claws retracted as he stared at the empty seat.

"Oh not good..." He turned around to stare at the broken steering wheel. "Yep, definitely not good."

He reached for his pack and his battle axe sitting on the passenger seat when he froze. He looked about the car, confusion on his face before he gave a small sigh, grabbed his pack and got out of the car. He patted himself down, checking his pockets and gave a slight frown, now feeling even more confused. Giving the pack a once over, he pulled a stake out and put it into his jacket pocket. He was about to sling it over his shoulder when he thought again and retrieved the radio from inside the bag. Finally looking around himself he realised he was in a dark alley.

"Fun, fun, fun..." He turned on the radio. Static greeted him as he switched it to the proper channel. The static cleared and he heard a faint whispering come over from the speaker.

~*BUZZ!* Can't... -Ve a Party... -Out a chee... Plate... *BUZZ!*~ cracked the radio.

"Weird... But not my problem..." Xander placed the radio on his belt, ignoring the static, despite the familiarity of the voice. "I so gotta get out of town."

"Look fellas," a dark voice called from the shadows. "He has to get outta town."

"What's the matter matey?" Another called out. "You got a boat to catch?"

"Come on," Xander said looking up at the dark night sky. "You hate me that much?"

Three men slowly slunk out of the darkness at the alley entrance, each with a sneer on their faces.

"Oh thank God," Xander let out a breath. "Ok, sorry, my bad, I take that back," he said, looking up at the sky again. Each man looked at him confused. "Sorry, it's just; I thought you were Vam- N-never mind..." He looked back at the men and waved it off.

"He ain't scared?" One said, outrage beginning to appear on his face. "Mack, you said they'd be scared."

"Folk I rumble usually are," the middle man said, producing a knife in his hand. "Hand over ya money pal."

"Ah, no." Xander said crossing his arms. "Can you let me through?"

"Cocky sonofabitch, ain't he," the third remarked.

"No, not really," Xander sighed, looking behind the three men before looking up at the sky once more. "I really can't win with you, can I?"

"Who you talkin to?" The third guy asked, looking up.

"God, but he doesn't seem to be listening." He told the man, looking over the muggers shoulder.

"Great Mack," the third guy smacked the guy, Mack, with the back of his hand. "He's a Jesus freak! Jesus freaks ain't ever got no money on 'em."

"Shut up Dale." Mack told the man.

"Yeah," a large voice said from behind the three muggers. "Shut up Dale."

"Eh, when you guys turn around," Xander took his pack off his back and placed it next to a set of trash cans and some empty wooden pallets. "Just run away, it will save you guys a lot of broken bones... And possibly your life."

"What are ya blabberin' ab..." The words dyed on Dale's lips as all three turned around and came face to chest with a large, brown skinned, goat-horned demon flanked with several yellow eyed, game face wearing Vampires. "Hole-y Hannah!"

"Boo!" The goat-horned demon smiled darkly.

Three screams of terror, a knife clashing to the ground and three sounds of pee running down pants legs greeted his response. All three men seemed not sure which way they should run, each man bumping into the other in a good impression of the Three Stooges. After a few seconds of fumbling they all seemed to figure out which way to go as they all began running away in the same direction, all screaming for their lives.

"Leave 'em," Goat-Horn growled to his minions. "The Dude is the one we want."

"Me?" Xander pointed at himself.

"Yep, word in The Underground is you're the Slayer's Watcher," Goat-Horn stepped forward. "And she's setting up shop on this here 'mouth."

"Underground huh?"

"Yeah, it's this nice bar over in West Bank next to the Harbour Inn Cafe, it's like only a block away from the Cuyahoga River," a Vamp on the demon's left smiled. "So it's real cool if you gotta dispose of a body real quick, plus it's like a five minute drive from Browns Stadium, go Browns!"

"Oh," Xander looked surprised at the Vamp. "Cool."

"Keith!" Goat-Horn bellowed, annoyed. "He don't need to know that! You're always ruining it!"

"I just thought he might be interested..." The Vamp began to explain.

"Keith!" Goat-Horn bellowed again, this time joined by some of the other Vamps.

"Well he is gonna be living here," Keith nodded to Xander, and then he smiled to the group. "He should get to know the place right? It's the least we could-"

"Keith!" This time all the Vamps joined the demon in bellowing the Vamp's name.

"Geez, ok, ok," Keith raised his hands above his head in surrender. "But in my defence they've got some great Dogs at Bro-"

"KEITH, SHUT UP!" This time Xander joined in with the demons.

"Fine, fine, don't stake me." Keith sighed.

"Where was I?" Goat-Horn scratched at one of its ridged and curved horns.

"Underground?" Xander supplied, crossing his arms.

"Oh, yeah, thanks," Goat-Horn smiled.

"No problem." Xander smiled, moving his right hand up and down his left shoulder before frowning to himself.

"Well," Goat-Horn collected himself. "Cos she's here, we're gonna leave her a little message..." The demon smiled more, cracking his knuckles, several of the Vamps sniggered behind it.

"Oh," Xander looked at his right hand on his left arm. He moved it up to his shoulder; he patted himself a few times then waved his fingers back and forth. The frown on his face seemed to deepen as he looked at his hand, then down his arm and then out to his left side.

He blinked his _eyes._

_Then he smiled just a little before turning to the demon._

_Subtly he put both hands on his hips, his right thumb flicking on his radio and turning the volume off. "Well, I don't have a pen or paper on me at the moment," he locked the broadcast button down, disguising it as he pretended to pat himself down, looking for paper. "But if you tell me the message I should be able to remember it."_

_"Ha ha, you ARE the message!"_

* * *

"So, where we goin'?" Faith asked after Buffy finished explaining what had happened.

"Come on Xander!" Buffy pleaded over the radio for what seemed like the hundredth time. "We can help you, come home!" she looked out the window. "He has to be running for some stupid reason," Buffy mused to herself before pushing the talk button on the radio again. "Xander!"

"He ain't listening B." Faith said flatly. "And the stupid reason would be?" Faith sat forward in her seat.

"He probably thinks he's gonna hurt someone." She looked back at her dark haired counterpart. "Hurt one of us... Me..."

"Yep," Faith sat back in her seat. "You were right, it is a stupid reason, he would never hurt any of you guys, or any of the juniors." She gestured to the slayer next to her.

"That was before Andrew blurted out that the Gloves were made by Warren."

"And he kinda attacked Mr. Wells," Hailey said from the driver's seat. "Ma'am, where am I going? We can't just drive round in circles."

"Ma'am?" Faith mouthed with a smile, a hint of glee in her eyes at the slayer's choice of words.

"Not now Faith," Buffy shot at the back seat. "He'll wanna get out of the city fast..."

"Hopkins it is," Hailey nodded, moving into another lane.

"Hardly any flights this time of night," Faith told the girl. "I just came from there; next outgoing flight ain't for five hours or so."

"Maybe he would drive?" Hailey offered.

"He can't for too long nowadays," Buffy informed them. "His eye starts to get tired, same with his neck."

"His neck?" Faith asked.

"He has to keep looking back and forth to his left; otherwise the whole left side of the car is one big blind spot."

"Ah."

"So..." Hailey trailed off.

"Bus? Kickin it Rogue Slayer style?"

"To many people on a bus," Buffy shook her head before returning to the radio. "I'm getting sick of this! Answer me Xander!"

"Boat." The slayer next to Faith said softly. "He'd go by boat."

"I'm not sure Mia..." Buffy began.

"If he can get on a boat, hole himself up in a cabin or storeroom, away from people," Mia continued. "Cross the Lake into Ontario, and then out into the wilderness, most likely heading up to the Yukon." She said looking out the window. "Logan style, it worked for him... Well, mostly."

"How do know...?" Faith began.

"Xander told us to read through Andrew's comic collection," She said flatly. "He didn't want us to be caught unawares in case his powers went haywire again. And I kinda like the Wolverine Character... Origins was a cool book."

"You both read the books?" Buffy turned to Hailey.

"Ahmm... I've been meaning too?" Hailey shrugged.

"We don't really have a Watcher assigned to us, just basic PT with the others till the school is finished." Mia looked to Buffy. "Xander tried to fill in when we were guarding him."

"X-Man steppin' up," Faith whistled. "Even when confined to a hospital bed."

"Ok, head towards... Ah?" Buffy looked at all three in turn.

"Old River," Mia spoke up. "Everywhere else is fishing charters."

"How could you possibly...?"

"I grew up here."

"I like you girl," Faith punched the girl lightly in the arm. "Names Faith, when you finish at the school, you come see me, my Squad ain't full yet."

* * *

_The large goat-horned demon grinned, cracking it knuckles, its fists large. It took a step forward, the vamps accompanying it flanking its sides._

_"The message is gonna be a beating," Keith spoke up._

_"Oh, no, I got that Keith." Xander sighed. "Thanks."_

_"Here to help." The Vamp smiled._

_"I doubt that." Xander said dryly. "Well, that's... That's just not gonna work." Xander said rubbing his chin. "I'm terrible as a message; can't we just talk about it? I remember messages way better if I don't get beat up first."_

_"You ain't got a choice." Another Vamp piped up before a large roar was heard from behind Xander._

_Headlights bathed the odd group as a car screeched into the alleyway. The demons before Xander looking over his shoulder as a red convertible, roof down came barrelling into the alleyway, some of them recognising the car's occupants by their Blonde and Dark hair as they came to a stop next to Xander's own crashed car._

_"Oh crap..." One of the Vamps visibly trembled._

_"Oh no, don't worry about them," Xander glanced over his shoulder for a second as the passengers got out. "They won't bother us..."_

_"Why not?" The Vamp looked at the women, the dark haired one twirled a stake in her hand, and the blonde simply levelled her gaze at the Vamp and crossed her arms._

_"Cos they're my friends," he pulled the radio from his hip. "And they've been listening in," he brought the radio to his lips, looking over his left shoulder. "Don't attack, I got this, you guys are just performing back up." Not waiting for an answer, Xander returned the radio to his belt._

_Behind the Slayers a back door to a bar somewhere opened and a funky guitar, keyboard and drums could be heard, slowly getting louder._

_"Besides," Xander smiled. Buffy and Faith slowly approached him from behind, both Chosen stopping about five paces away. "We're just talking at the moment, right? Chatting... Singing?"_

_Goat-Horn looked confused, his head tilting to the side in a very dog like manner as if to understand the man better. "Singing?"_

_The music seemed to fade in louder from around them now, the Vamps looking for the source of the funky beat._

_"Yeah," Xander smiled wider, a goofy look on his face as the music got louder, as if whoever was playing the Funky guitar was right next to him. "Singing..."_

_As Goat-Horn looked to Keith, as if to ask, 'You heard him say singing too, right?' Xander put his hands in his pockets and began to slowly walk backwards._

_#Like the legend of the Phoenix# Xander began to sing, a huge smile on his face as the demons looked at him confused._

_#All ends with beginnings,# Xander continued, Keith the only one of the group who smiled at the man, not sure what to make of this turn of events._

_#What keeps the planets spinning, uh,# Xander shrugged. #The force from the beginning,#_  
_Xander took a breath, "Look," he spoke, gesturing to the demons before him._

_#We've,# Without missing a beat, both Slayers behind Xander interrupted, each stepping toward him as they sung._

_#Come too far,# they sang, Xander turning to the Chosen, a slightly annoyed look on his face._

_#To give up,# both women smiled at their friend, a smile breaking onto Xander's face as well._

_#Who you are,# both women flanked the man._

_#So let's raise the bar,# both women produced stakes in their hands, Xander looked between the two and turned to face the Demons._

_#And our cups to the stars,# the Slayers finished singing._

_As the large Goat-Horned Demon looked on in stunned silence, his mouth agape, the Slayers took one last step closer to Xander._

_#She's up all night to the sun,# Xander sung, nodding his head to Buffy on his left._

_#I'm up all night to get some,# he pointed to himself._

_#She's up all night for good fun,# he pointed to Faith on his right._

_#I'm up all night to dust Vampires.# he pointed to himself again._

_Sobering confusion flashed across the group of Vampires faces, not sure if they had heard the last line right._

_#We're up all night to the sun,# this time he pointed amongst all three of them, each of them taking a slow step forward with each line he sung._

_#We're up all night to get some,# closer to the demons._

_#We're up all night for good fun,# closer still._

_#We're up all night to dust Vampires.# they stopped just in front of the group. Without warning Xander raised both his gauntlet covered hands, the palms glowing bright as he prepared to fire._

_#We're up all night to dust Vampires,# he shot a Vamp, Keith, in the head with his left repulsor, the Vamp disintegrated into dust._

_#We're up all night to dust Vampires,# he shot another, this time on Goat-Horn's left with his right repulsor._

_#We're up all night to dust Vampires,# Buffy threw a stake, it dusted a Vamp on Goat-Horn's right._

_#We're up all night to dust Vampires.# Faith threw her stake, the projectile dusting another vamp, this time on the demon's left._

_Goat-Horn now looked scared as Xander and the Chosen each took on a casual stance, as if they hadn't just taken out four of his minions._

_#The present has no ribbon,# Xander stared at his gauntlet covered hands before him._

_#Your gift keeps on giving,# he looked up at Goat-Horn as his hands returned to their Gloved form._

_#What is this I'm feeling?# Xander placed a hand on his own chest, stumbling a step back._

_#If you wanna leave I'm with it,# Xander seemed to look over the demon's shoulder at someone who wasn't there._

_#We're come too far,# Buffy sung as she stormed in front of Xander, placing her hands on his shoulders, the man still staring at someone in the darkness beyond the demons._

_#To give up who you are!# Buffy pushed her friend back a couple paces to jolt him out of his staring as she sung._

_#So let's raise the bar,# Xander muttered the next line as Faith placed a hand on his shoulder, nodding to her friend._

_#And our cups to the stars,# Faith finished, holding up her stake as Xander turned to her then back to what was now clearly a man standing in the darkness._

_#She's up all night to the sun,# Xander looked to Buffy, determination appearing on his face._

_#You're up all night to get some,# Buffy sang, looking into his eyes._

_#I'm up all night for good fun,# Faith added._

_#We're up all night to dust Vampires!# all three sang together, the music swelling as all three Scoobies sprang into action._

_#We're up all night to dust Vampires,# they sung as one, Xander pinning two Vamps to the ground with his webbing, both Slayers plunging stakes into the pinned down demons chests._

_#We're up all night to dust Vampires,# Xander pinned the last two down and the Slayers repeated themselves._

_#We're up all night to dust Vampires,# Xander pointed his webbing at Goat-Horn and began to spin the demon into a giant cocoon. The demon struggled against the sticky webbing but he stayed where he was, the white threading covering him from shoulders to hoofs._

_The music around them began to sound more electronic, as if some DJ was mixing the track as they performed their routine. Xander stepped close to the struggling demon, looking up into it's annoyed, and yet slightly terrified eyes._

_#We're up all night,# Xander sung softly, reaching to hold a curled horn in each hand. The large curved and ridged horns began to glow a fluorescent pink, the demon letting go a bellow of half rage, half fear, its teeth bared as they too began to glow fluorescent pink as its whole skull was charged by Xander's touch._

_#To Kill,# Xander whispered, letting go of the demon's horns. #Demons!#_

_Again the demon bellowed, this time all three Scoobies turned their backs on the demon and began to walk away, the music began to swell, the funky beat growing to a close._

_*KA-BO-*_

* * *

~D-don't attack,~ the radio crackled to life in Buffy's hand.

"Holy crap!" Faith let out at hearing the man's voice squawk from the walkie-talkie.

"Oh my god, Xander?" Buffy yelled into the device. "Where are you?"

~...Just performing back up.~ Xander's muffled voice answered, followed by static.

"Xander! Xander?" She yelled again.

~We're up all night... *BUZZ*... To dust Vampires...~ Xander half sung, half groaned in pain.

"Xander?" Buffy looked back at Faith and Mia, worry on her face. "XANDER!"

Static greeted her once again.

"He's gone B." Faith put a hand on the senior Slayers shoulder, Buffy slumping back in her seat.

~Buffy?~ the radio in Buffy's hand squawked to life again, the Chosen almost fumbling the device.

"I'm here Willow," Buffy brought the radio to her lips again. "What have you got?"

~We're, ah... We've had some problems finding him.~

"Problems?" Buffy almost yelled.

~We can't track him,~ Penny's voice cracked from the speaker. ~We can't seem to trace his Life Force.~

"What does that mean?" Faith asked the Slayer.

"Why not?" Buffy asked.

~It seems like there isn't enough of it for the spell to find,~ Willow's voice was full of worry.

~We did get a flicker though, just before the spell failed.~ Penny added.

"Where?" Buffy said quickly.

~A block away from the Old River Docks.~ Willow informed them.

"That's where we're headed now."

~What?~ Willow asked, confused. ~Why? How did you kno-~

"Mia is a local," Buffy told the Witch, smiling at Mia.

"Way to go Mia." Faith punched the slayers arm again.

~Good!~

"Do you have any idea where exactly?" Buffy asked into the radio.

~No, just a general area...~ Penny answered.

"Ok, keep us-" Buffy began.

*KA-BOOOOOOOM!*

All four Slayers turned and looked up the street they were driving on and to the rising fireball and smoke that had appeared slightly to their right.

~What was that?!~ Willow and Penny yelled from the radio.

~We just saw a large spike in energy in the area we observed the flicker.~

"X-Xander sent up a f-flare!" Buffy said, the radio slack in her hand. "Hailey!" She pointed at the smoke trail.

"Yes Ma'am!" Hailey stepped on the gas.

* * *

_*-OOOOOOM!*_

_"If you're quite finished..." A voice cut through the night, the music stopping instantly, the last remnants of the explosion the only sound to be heard._

_"Spoil my fun." Xander said in a childish tone. The alley around him dissolved to darkness, the flaming remains of the demon disappearing along with the two Chosen Slayers, their convertible and his crashed car._

_"You gonna show yourself?" Xander called out into the darkness._

_"How did you know?" The voice asked from the shadows._

_"It was a dream?" Xander laughed. "It was obvious, now show yourself."_

_Several feet away a man stepped into an unseen light source._

_"I knew it was you, augh!" Xander threw up his hands in disgust._

_"How did you know it was a dream?" Warren sneered at the man._

_"A couple of things," Xander decided to throw him a bone. "One, I caught a glimpse of you in my rear view mirror."_

_"I knew you saw me there," Warren himself looked disappointed. "Damn it! Ya see, that's what I get for trying to be creepy and cliché." He rubbed his face. "Two?"_

_"Well, two was that when I left the school, I had a radio and a couple stakes in my jacket."_

_"Really?"_

_"Yeah, also had a fairly nice battle axe on the front seat too that mysteriously went missing" Xander nodded. "Even with these," he gestured to his gloved hands, "I'm still gonna go out at night armed."_

_"Man, rookie mistakes..." Warren chastised himself._

_"Not done," Xander stopped the man. "There's more."_

_"More?"_

_"Notice anything missing?" Xander gestured to himself._

_"Wha-? No."_

_"No, seriously, take a close look..." He stuck his chin out and gestured more enthusiastically at his face._

_"N-no..." Warren took a step closer. "I don't... I?"_

_"He's got two eyes ya Moron!" A gruff voice barked out of the darkness._

_"What? Who's there?" Warren called out where the voice had come from._

_"See," the voice took a puff from a cigar, the lit end glowed in the darkness, lighting the man's face slightly. "In the real world, e's only got the one."_

_"I was wondering when you were gonna show up Colonel," Xander turned to the man as he stepped out of the darkness._

_The Colonel was tall, large shoulders and hardened muscles. His hair was short and tight, slight graying on his temples, his face had a couple days growth to it, the beard seemed to give his chiselled chin more definition. He looked hard, like he could handle anything thrown at him, a fact that was helped by the dark eye patch over his left eye and the visible scaring that snaked its way from underneath. He pulled the cigar from his mouth and blew out a steady stream of smoke. He was dressed in a pair of camo cargo pants, big army boots and a green wife beater, an old school leather holster that housed a M1911 sat on his hip. His dog tags hung on his chest, the metal gleamed in the visible light as they sat pride of place outside his wife beater._

_"Long time no talk Harris," the Colonel nodded at the man._

_"How are you still doing this?" Warren looked between the two men before him._

_"What?" Xander stared at the geek._

_"He thinks you're still lucid dreaming." The Colonel answered._

_"That's how you manipulated the dream?" Warren looked annoyed._

_"Yeah, as soon as I realised I could see on my left side I started to catch on," at Warren's blank look he elaborated. "Since losing my eye I've noticed I still dream with two eyes, albeit a little freaky the first couple times I noticed, now I think it's kinda like how Willow's Grandfather once told us that even though he came to America speaking English he dreams in Polish like he did when he was a child..." Xander smiled sadly as he thought of the old Jewish man from his youth. "Lucky thing too... I've never gotten it to last this long. And believe me, I've tried, oh man have I tried. I normally only get as far as realising it's a dream, then trying to take control when I suddenly panic, lose my grasp and wake up."_

_"Panic?" Warren stared at the man._

_"Well, the first time I truly realised I was dreaming, the First Slayer was trying to kill me in my sleep." Xander shrugged. "Kind of puts the damper on the training."_

_"Yeah, but if it weren't for her you never would have started to train in taking control of your dreams." The Colonel offered._

_"True, true," Xander nodded, rubbing his chin._

_"So if this isn't him still manipulating the dream," Warren pointed at Xander then at the Colonel, "Who are you?"_

_"Excuse me?" Xander paused, looking back and forth between Warren and the Colonel._

_"Who are you?" Warren said more forcefully, sneering at the man as he took another puff from his cigar._

_"You don't know?" Xander stared at the nerd._

_"He doesn't know Harris." The Colonel folded his arms with a smile._

_"Wait, wait, wait," Xander waved his arms about. "You've been here a whole week, stuck in my head." He pointed to his own. "And you don't know the Colonel?"_

_"I've never seen him before!" Warren yelled, getting angry._

_"What...?" Xander looked dumbfounded._

_Somewhere in the darkness all three heard the faint sound of laughing. The cackle was animalistic as it washed over each of them._

_"What the hell was that?" Warren looked out into the void around them._

_"He doesn't know?" Xander looked off into the middle distance._

_"He doesn't know Harris." The Colonel chuckled._

_"Doesn't know what?" Warren sneered._

_#Run, run, run away,# Xander smiled, singing softly._

_"Enough Singing!" Warren yelled, another bark of laughter could be heard coming from the darkness, this time from behind him._

_#Buy yourself another day,# Xander continued._

_#Run, run, run and hide,# this time the Colonel joined in._

_Warren flinched, staring at the Army man, the fact that he was singing was more disturbing than the words he sung._

_#Somewhere no one else can find...# the Colonel finished, again taking a puff from his cigar._

_"Momma's comin'." Xander stared at Warren._

_"Momma?" Warren relaxed. "You're Mommy is coming to save you?"_

_Xander smiled, shaking his head slowly, a small chuckle escaping his lips. "Never said she was my Momma,"_

_Again the same bark of laughter came from the darkness, this time right over Warren's shoulder._

_"She's heeeeerrrrreeeee..." Xander called out as Warren spun on the spot and stared out into the darkness._

_As the Nerd tried to make out what was in the darkness, two eyes appeared, big and yellow. Before he could comprehend what he was looking at a large pair of jaws flashed out at him, the teeth gleaming in the little light that bathed them all. Warren's arms came up on instinct, shielding him, the arm only giving the jaws something to grab as they clamped down on his left arm and pulled him into the darkness._

_Xander smiled as he heard the combined screams of panic and, growls of laughter that came from the darkness where Warren had been dragged._

_"Oh, she's mad!" Xander shook his head._

_"What did you expect?" The Colonel stepped up to the man. "She barely tolerates me being here and I'm just a memory. Add an unwanted Psycho A.I. and you just know she was gonna blow her top."_

_"Not blow top!" An animalistic female voice called out from the darkness. "Protect Pack! Difference."_

_"Yeah Colonel, there's a difference," Xander hit the man in the arm with the back of his hand._

_"Cub! Respect!" The voice growled out._

_"Sorry Momma," Xander hung his head at her words._

_From the darkness came a flying, bloodied and beaten mess that landed at the feet of the two men. Warren was panting, tears streamed his dirty face, his nose was bleeding as well as several deep lacerations to his face, and bite marks littered his arms, chest and legs. His clothing was torn everywhere he was bloody, the cloth sticking to his flesh from the wetness of his blood. He rolled over onto his back and was about to sit himself up when she walked into the light and he saw her for the first time._

_"M-Momma?" He stammered to himself as he looked behind to the two men, then back to the beast before him._

_"Momma." Both men grinned._

_She stood proud and large, much larger than any of her kind seen on earth, standing tall she came to Xander's chest height. She grinned, her teeth dripped with her own drool mixed with a hint of the nerd's blood. Her coat was spotted, thick and matted in places, but still shone with a mystical quality to it. On all fours she padded closer to Warren, the nerd moving quickly down on to his back until he was lying on the ground. She huffed at the nerd, her breath powerful enough to blow his hair back. She stood over Warrens body, a large dinner plate sized paw on either side of his prone, shivering in fear, figure. Momma bowed her head down to look at the man that laid before her in submission; she let out a low cackle._

_"Momma," Xander pointed to Warren. "This is Warren Mears, the murderous bastard that killed Tara and shot Buffy." He kneeled down next to the bloodied man. "Warren, meet Momma, the Great Hyena Spirit that once possessed me." He looked back and pointed at The Colonel. "That's The Colonel; I became him one night on Halloween."_

_Warren looked up at the Great Hyena that towered over him and gulped._

_"Appropriate response." The Colonel chuckled._

_"Wait, s-she possessed you?" Warren looked to the carpenter. "Not anymore? Then why is she here? Why are they both still h-he-" he was cut off as Momma placed a paw on his chest and began to press down._

_"Careful meat," Momma growled._

_"We're still here cos he is ours!" The Colonel ground out. Momma looked up at him sharply and flashed her teeth. "Ok, ok, he's yours; you just permit my memory to hang around." Momma nodded with a smile, looking back down at the bloodied man._

_"Technically the both of you are memories," Xander stood, reaching out to scratch Momma behind the ear, the Great Hyena smiling and turning into the touch. Momma began to huff a light laugh as she closed her eyes, almost purring in pleasure.._

_"Yes," Momma shook her head as he finished scratching her. "But part still lingers, you my cub!"_

_"Yes, I am." Xander smiled, he had learned long ago to not argue with a woman, doubly so if the woman was a mother._

_Momma returned her attention to Warren under her paw. She applied pressure again, the man giving a slight yelp in protest._

_"My cub!" She growled. "No room for you!"_

_"I didn't-" Warren tried to answer._

_"No Room!" She barked. "Soldier!" She released the nerd and turned to the Colonel. "Put him Cage!"_

_"Ma'am!" The Colonel snapped to attention with a grin. He picked up the bloodied Warren and disappeared in the dark with him._

_"Cage?" Xander asked._

_"Know what he does," Momma huffed. "Same as Great Hyena, but you my cub, you be no one else's. Not now you have senses back." She moved closer, rubbing her head into his neck and shoulder. "Good see you."_

_"You too Momma," Xander wrapped his arms around the large hyena. "So he was trying to possess me?"_

_"Yes." Momma pulled away from the embrace. "Came with Gloves."_

_"I'm starting to see why Buffy and the others don't like these things..." He looked at his hands._

_"No!" She nipped at his arm. "Gloves good. Make you strong cub! Make you warrior like little warrior you mate with."_

_"Little warrior I mate wi-? I don't mate with anyon-? Wait..." Xander got an embarrassed look on his face. "Momma, I'm not mating with Buffy!"_

_"Why not? Don't know how?" She smiled._

_"Momma!"_

_"I want Grand-Cubs!" Momma barked._

_"Momma! Xander!" The Colonel came running into the light._

_"Whoa Colonel," Xander stopped the man. "Where's the fire?"_

_"Outside!" The Colonel yelled._

_As Xander gave him a confused look and Momma tilted her head to the side all three heard Warren's laughter in the distance._

* * *

Buffy was scared.

Smoke was never a good sign. And now with Xander's Gloves it was even more of a bad sign.

"Oh god!" Buffy sobbed as they turned off the road into an alley, smoke and flames billowing out of a crashed car.

"That's not..." Faith gasped, staring at the car, the frame of the vehicle beginning to show as the flames consumed it.

"Xander's car!" Buffy yelled.

As Hailey slowed to a stop a safe distance from the wreck, Buffy didn't waste time for the van to come to a complete stop and bounded out of the moving car, running for the flames.

"Buffy!" Faith yelled, jumping after her, followed closely by Mia.

* * *

**Authors Note 2:** There you go, hope you liked it, at first I wasn't sure if I explained the lucid dream sequences as well as I saw them in my head, but hopefully you understood.

If not, feel free to ask me about it in a review, good or bad, doesn't matter, I still like receiving them... Even though I die a little inside when they get hateful (Looking at you Mum!).

Also I really like Momma the Great Hyena Spirit, I'm gonna try to get her more into the story further down the line, might do something with Dr Strange and magicks, or I might save that for the next story.

**Additional Disclaimers:** 'Get Lucky' was written by Thomas Bangalter, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers and usually performed by Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers. And I assume it is owned by Columbia Music.

'Kingdom Come' by The Civil Wars, and I again assume written by them, I can't find out either way, and again assuming it is owned by Universal Republic Records.


	7. I Don't Understand You

**Author's Note 1:** Sorry I forgot to update this... My bad, but stick around and I'll update again in an hour or two.

I tried to tug at the heart strings in the beginning, leave a review to let me know if I succeeded or not.

* * *

"Xander!" Buffy screamed, running for the flaming wreck.

"Buffy!" Faith yelled running after the Slayer. "Hailey, call it in!" She yelled over her shoulder as both Mia and herself made to grab the distraught Chosen. The heat intense, Buffy made it within arm's reach of the flames before both slayers managed to grab her and pull her back. Buffy didn't feel it as she fought against their grip.

"Xander!" She screamed again, tears beginning to streak down her face.

"Willow, we have a car blaze, can you lock on to us and put it out?" Hailey spoke into her radio, her voice calm despite her feelings.

~Car blaze?~ Willow answered, confused. ~You guys didn't crash did you?~ she asked, her voice worried.

"Let me go!" Buffy cried, bucking in Faith and Mia's grip. "Xander could be in there!"

"We don't know that Buff," Faith struggled with the Chosen.

"We didn't crash, we're ok. It's..." Hailey told Willow before hesitating. "It's Xander's car."

~Xander's Car!~ Willow yelled from the radio, the speaker distorting from her volume, there was a few seconds of silence before she came back. ~We've got it... Oh Goddess, there's someone inside!~

"XANDER!" Buffy let out a hysterical scream, punching and kicking at the Slayers who held her, Mia receiving a black eye, Faith a fat lip.

~Hold on,~ this time Penny instead of Willow said over the radio. ~We're gonna try something!~

As the four slayers looked on, the flames began to lessen, the black smoke becoming less thick. They all got a glimpse of a body in the front seat, shiny grey metal peeking through burnt flesh on some of its limbs...

Then their world turned sideways.

* * *

_Warren was hunched over in a metal cage that was barely large enough for him to fit. His bloodied knees were pulled up to his chest, his elbows poked out of the bars along with the tips of his shoes._

_#The Xander, the Xander, the Xander's on fire,# Warren sang as all three turned to look at the nerd. #We don't need no water, let the Xander burn! Burn Xander, burn!#_

_He sat, awkwardly sneering up at them, his appearance still bloodied, but now he looked elated._

_"I can sing too," he sniffed, a drop of blood that had trickled from his nostril retreated back up his nose as he followed it by wiping it on his sleeve._

_"You little...!" Xander started forward, only to be held back by the Colonel. "What did you do to me now?"_

_"Me?" Warren asked in mock surprise. "Why, I didn't do anything." He got a sudden smirk on his face. "You on the other hand, Mr 'Even-With-The-Gloves-I'm-Still-Gonna-Be-Armed'... You didn't exactly use your stake on me, did you?"_

_"What..." Xander muttered, the fight left him as he thought about it, hanging in the Colonels arms._

_"No, you used the Gloves." Warren told the defeated man before him. "And whatever power you used here," he pointed to the ground and paused for dramatic effect. "Manifested out there..." He pointed out into the darkness. "That big explosion..." Momma growled at him. "That was the car exploding around you. At the moment your brain is roasting inside that tin can of a skull of yours. You didn't even notice too, thought you'd have a laugh with the little song-fight, get Momma to chew on me for a bit too," he looked up at the Great Hyena with disgust. "But all I needed you to do was waste time here in the dream. And it looks like I..."_

_Just as Warren was about to finish gloating, the ground beneath the four disappeared._

* * *

The world didn't turn sideways.

They instead fell sideways, as if they had dived into a pool and lounged back in the air till they were totally horizontal before hitting the water.

A large crash was heard. Buffy untangled herself from Faith and Mia and where they had fallen in a heap, and stared in time to see Xander's car standing on its rear bumper like a large flagpole, swaying. The rear end was crushed from the impact. Slowly it swung forward to the ground and landed with an almighty crash onto the destroyed remains of its front wheels.

Buffy didn't spare a look at where they had landed, instead she ran full pelt to the body that sat in the front seat. Not caring if the metal was still hot, she forcefully grabbed the driver side door and ripped it off the smouldering wreckage. She threw it over her shoulder, concern for were it landed not in her mind, neither the care towards the slight burns she had endured handling the object. Her stomach churned as she smelt the burnt flesh, hair, and metal, her eyes blurry from her tears as she knelt down next to the car frame and the body that sat before her.

"X-Xan-" her voice choked, reaching a hand to caress the blackened flesh that made up his cheek. She gasped as the flesh flaked away, small motes of ash flew away to reveal dry, hardened and raw looking muscles and the hint of silver that glistened from where his cheek bones resided. "No!" She cried out, falling forward, tears streaming down her face as she moved her arms around the corpse of her friend, and what she had hoped was to be much more someday. Her tears mixed with the ash from his body, coating her face in a tear streaked tragic imitation of a chimney sweep.

* * *

Penny and Willow had quickly gotten the Coven to help them and they had begun chanting as soon as Hailey had told them of the fire. They had felt the flames as they then focused on the actual car. That was when Willow had felt the life inside the car. Then Hailey said those three words that made the Witch's blood run cold.

~It's Xander's car...~

Penny instinctively reached out to the woman, Willow grabbing her hand as they joined their power. A Coven member grabbed her other hand and she suddenly felt the whole Coven adding their power to her own.

"Hold on, we're gonna try something!" Penny had called over the radio before turning to the redhead. "Take as much as you need."

The car crashed on to its rear end in the middle of the gym. It wasn't glamorous, it didn't need to be. It just needed to bring the wreckage to them as quickly as possible. The first thing everyone noticed was how quiet the room got.

Everyone stared.

What else could they do?

Then Buffy had scrambled to her feet, the only one not frozen in shock. She ripped the door off and tossed it away, causing Penny to came out of her stupor, reaching a hand out to stop the flying metal. The door hung in the air for a second, stopping its flight towards the stunned medical staff and promptly fell to the ground. The sound was loud in the large gym, the only sound to accompany it was the soft sob of "X-Xan-" as Buffy knelt next to the body.

At her pained scream of "No!" Dr. Roberts strode forward.

He looked into the remains of the cabin and gulped before reaching forward and over the distraught Chosen. He placed a hand on the body's neck and the remains of its carotid artery to feel for a pulse. Seconds ticked past as the room held their breaths, Buffy's sobs cutting into the gathered hearts, waiting for news. As if to answer Dr. Roberts face fell. Letting out a sigh and shaking his head slightly, he turned around to the awaiting medical staff, locking eyes with his fellow doctors.

"No pulse." He said quietly.

* * *

_They hung in a sea of nothingness and darkness, as if playing out a real life parody of a Wile E. Coyote cartoon before each one fell to their left with a jerk that could only come when someone suddenly turns the gravity back on._

_They landed on their sides, each letting out a sound of annoyance and pain, the metal cage Warren was in clanging loudly from the impact. The sound echoed in the empty darkness that surrounded them._

_Momma let out a yelp and whine of pain as she slowly rolled onto her side, her head snapping to the caged nerd, her eyes fierce. She opened her jaw to bark at the man, but her attention was broken by movement at the edge of the darkness. Her head snapped to the side, her teeth bared._

_She disappeared._

_"What the hell?" The Colonel yelled, lying in his side. He pulled his gun from his holster, pointing it at the cage and the nerd within, not moving as he took aim. Momma popping away made him quickly point the gun to where she had been and then out into the darkness. It seemed to creep closer to them before he turned back to Warren. "Stop it!"_

_The Colonel disappeared too._

_"No!" Warren shouted, looking beyond the spot the solider and hyena had once been and up at the encroaching darkness. "How did you do that?" He demanded as his cage disappeared._

_"What?" Xander shook his head, getting to his hands and knees. He looked around them and frowned as the light began to dim._

_"How did you extinguish the flames?" Warren stood, his voice seeming to echo as the darkness became total._

* * *

Willow let out a large gasp, instantly looking away from the burnt frame, she stared at the ground before her, the tears threatening to come. She took in a staggered breath and tried to steel her mind. If she didn't she knew her magic would go haywire and the last thing she wanted to do was hurt those around her.

Penny felt the redhead's spike of emotions and the power that leeched out before Willow reined herself in. She silently cursed herself for not being prepared for it and placed a hand on her shoulder, adding her shields to the younger woman's own.

Willow was grateful for the boost, but still didn't look up. She could feel Giles' eyes darting back and forth between the wreckage and where she knelt on the ground surrounded by Coven members. A distraught Dawn was cradled in his arms as she cried. She had her face buried into his chest, silently muttering to herself as the Watcher gently ran his hand up and down her back.

Faith sat on her butt where she had landed, arms on her knees, her head hung low. She didn't know how to feel, she never knew how to feel when someone she knew was taken from her. Anger was there sure, even if it was Harris, but it wasn't like they were really tight. Ok, so they had gotten drunk together a few times after S-Day, so drinking buddies, but those incidents were few and far between. Both of them tended to not drink to excess unless pressured by others, both having family members in their youth that sullied the joy of alcohol.

Mia sat next to her, her arms hugging her legs to her chest, she sniffed quietly to herself. She'd liked the one eyed man, he had been the first Watcher she had actually liked. She smiled to herself as she heard in her head, 'I'm not your Watcher, I only get the stubborn Slayers, isn't that right Buffy?'.

Hailey stared at the wreckage, not taking anything in. It didn't make sense to her. He had been joking with her just the other day. Told her she was worse than the doctors. 'At least they just want to run tests, you watch my every move.' He had accented this by weaving back and forth on the spot, her eyes following his actions. 'See, creepy!' He laughed.

Now he was gone.

Buffy cried.

She didn't care.

She hugged him closer, he had been alone. He had died as both of them feared they would.

Alone.

Her, alone in a cemetery.

Him, alone in an alley.

Or walking down the street, opening his front door, entering a building, working a construction site...

He had been afraid it could happen anywhere. But the one thing he hadn't said was in a car fire, running away so he didn't hurt her.

He had hurt her anyway.

She willed him not to go. She hugged him tight, not wanting to let him go. She held him so tight she felt the blood pumping through her body. She felt like it betrayed her, showing her she still lived when he...

Thump...

Wait...

Thump... Thump...

"Xander..." She whispered, raising her head from his chest as she felt for what she hoped. "D-Doc...!" She called out, her voice strained.

Dr. Roberts turned back to the grieving Chosen, now looking up at him as she wiped the tears from her cheek, ash smearing her face.

"Doc!" She said more forcefully when he didn't move toward her straightaway. She turned back to Xander. "Xand?" Dr. Roberts looked at her confused before his eyes went wide and Buffy jumped to her feet, she had seen it too.

Xander's chest moved.

Roberts moved back to the body and placed his hand on the man's neck again, his fingers feeling for a pulse. He didn't feel anything.

"Buffy..." He began.

That's when Xander let out a small gasp, breathing in a lungful of air.

Roberts pulled the stethoscope from around his neck and held it to Xander's chest. He turned to the medical staff. "He's breathing!"

* * *

_"X-Xand...?" Buffy called to him._

_He tried to answer, but his chest felt heavy, too heavy to draw in breath to speak._

_He heard movement now, a lot of it, and raised voices._

_Some people were frantic, barking orders, others repeating some kind of quiet mantra that sounded something like "Thank goddess, thank goddess, thank-"_

_His eyes opened._

_He was on his back, looking up at the sun. He turned as he heard a small huff to his right. Momma was curled up on the ground next to him, her head laying on her forelegs, her eyes closed._

_"You took a bath..." She smiled, letting out another huff, her back legs twitching as she reacted to something only she could see behind her eyelids. "That's ok..."_

_He looked back up at the sky._

* * *

They began to move him onto a gurney and take him away.

Buffy was so relieved he was alive she didn't fight as she was physically moved away to let the medical staff work.

Willow stood beside her muttering to herself over and over, "Thank goddess, thank goddess, thank goddess..."

"Ms Harkness!" Roberts called out as they wheeled him out of the gym. "Bring Ms Summers and Lehane!"

"Right, yes!" Penny called back to the doctor. She reached a hand back to Willow's shoulder and the redhead nodded, relief on her tear stained face, moving to follow the gurney. Penny nodded to her Coven and the members began to move themselves before she turned to the Chosen Two. "Buffy, Faith, we'll need you to join us."

* * *

_"Strange..." A gruff voice said from Xander's left, half asleep._

_He turned to look at the Colonel, he was sprawled out on his stomach, legs spread, one arm awkwardly pinned under his body at his side, his hand fondling the holster on his hip, his other arm under his head, curled up in a makeshift pillow as he drooled on his forearm._

_"Beatin' up that Pirate..." He mumbled. "...Gave me a weird sense of closure..." He snuggled into his arm as Xander returned to looking up at the sky._

_The sun had returned, this time it hung above his head, the light making him squint. His left eye seemed to hurt more than normal as another sun appeared above him, just off to the left of the first. A shadow moved over his sight, but by the time he had registered it and tried to open his eyes wide, it was gone._

_The air tasted funny all of a sudden._

_A background noise he hadn't noticed began to fill his ears._

_The world began to spin._

* * *

Penny lead the Chosen into a hallway window outside the operating theatre the medical staff had wheeled Xander into. They watched as the staff moved around the man, moving tubes into flesh and lights into position above him. Willow put a hand on Buffy's back as the Slayer hugged herself, watching her friend's burnt body. He was looking better than he had after the smoke had cleared. He was more red in places, no longer just black with ash, he seemed to be bloodier, wetter than before.

Dr. Roberts gave some unheard orders before joining the two Witches and Slayers in the hallway. "Now," the Doctor began. "He seems to be regenerating," he said watching Buffy closely. The woman relaxed somewhat, her shoulders seeming to lift a little, Willow mirroring her. "But he's not out of the woods yet. Remember, this is all brand new territory for me, for us," he gestured around the group.

"So the Gloves are regenerating his flesh after almost barbecuing him to death?" Faith asked, watching as nurses began to bandage his now bleeding burnt flesh.

"Well, no..." Roberts turned to Penny.

"The Gloves seem to have given him regenerating abilities, but they are now self-sustaining." Penny raised a hand towards the window, her palm glowing a soft gold. "He should be fully healed within the hour, but..."

"But?" Buffy snapped at the Witch, breaking her stare from the window and turning to the woman. "But what?"

"This could happen again Buffy," Willow soothed her friend. "Unless we do something about it."

"So do it." Faith looked at the redhead as if it was the most obvious answer.

"That could be a problem, Ms. Lehane." Dr. Roberts sighed. "Ms. Summers, as you know we were looking into providing a power source that the Gloves could feed off of instead of his chaos energies, his life force if you will."

"Yeah, the Mars thingy," Buffy nodded.

"M.A.R. Buffy," Willow corrected.

"Whatever."

"Well, as we began to tell you," Penny took over. "The M.A.R. uses the 'Chosen Lifeline of an Old Warrior',"

"Huh?" Faith looked at the woman.

"A long living Slayer," Willow answered. "A Chosen Slayer, one of you."

"It involves installing a M.A.R. into Xander's chest and another in a Chosen Slayer," Penny explained. "Interchangeable cores are recharged in the Chosen M.A.R. and then placed in Xander's."

"The Slayer would then be effectively responsible for keeping him alive with replacement cores as he uses them." Roberts informed the Slayers. "They would be bonded, able to be apart, but not for long, maybe up to nine hours, give or take, before a replacement core was needed."

"Oh..." Faith quickly looked at her feet. "He ain't gonna like that..."

"This procedure is purely voluntary," Roberts looked at each of them in turn. "I won't force either of you to do this, we still have time to look into alternatives."

"Doctor," Penny stressed the word. "I told you, Buffy would be better suited-"

"And I told you," Roberts turned on the Coven leader. "I would not help unless both Chosen were given the option of volunteering. I will not make one of them sacrifice their life for my patient against their will." He eyed Buffy.

"I told you Harry," Willow told the doctor. "We're Scoobies, sacrificing our lives for our friend's is what we do."

"Scoobies for life." Buffy turned back to the window and the now slowly mummifying Xander. "I'll do it."

"He really ain't gonna like that B," Faith turned to the blonde.

"I'm the eldest." Buffy said curtly. "The longest living Chosen," she turned back to the group. "I'm the best candidate Faith."

"That's what we concluded too." Penny nodded.

"B," Faith moved the Slayer away from the others and looked at her with concerned eyes. "You sure 'bout this? Xand ain't gonna be happy if I let you do this. You know as well as I do he doesn't want someone suffering for him, least of which his precious Buffy."

"But he'll just jump at the chance for you to be his salvation?" Buffy looked at the Slayer. "He'll be upset no matter which one of us does it. Besides have you even said three words to each other since you broke out?"

"Actually," Faith crossed her arms. "We've had a few heart to hearts, gotten loaded together... He even acknowledges me now when I walk in a room."

"When?"

"First was New Year's."

"I don't remember..."

"Not surprising, the amount you and Willow drank," Faith smirked. "We ended up sitting up most of the night talkin', nursing a bottle of Jack between us."

"He doesn't get drunk," Buffy looked at the Dark Chosen like she was lying. "We normally have to pressure him to have anything harder than water."

"Neither do I," Faith smirked. "Hence the nursing a bottle between us. Besides there was other times. We did party for a while..."

"Like?" She was curious now.

"The 'We're alive!' Party, Anya's Funeral, your birthday, Easter, Giles' farewell, the 'We're still alive!' Party, Red's farewell, Dawn's farewell..." Faith began to rattle off.

"Fine!" Buffy threw her hands up in frustration. "I'm still doing it." Buffy gave her a levelled gaze. "You gonna try to stop me?" She almost growled.

"No, just thought I'd put my two cents in," Faith squared her shoulders. "But if X asks, I gave a rousing speech volunteering to take your place." At Buffy's smirk she continued. "It was good. Really memorable, you had to be there... It was full of how my life is already screwed up, what could a hunk of metal in my chest hurt and you the golden Slayer where worth too much to sacrifice..."

"Fine," Buffy smirk grew, her eyes taking in the fat lip she had given the dark Slayer earlier. "Just tell him I knocked you out and told them to use me anyway."

"I was already gonna." She said, tracing her bruised lip with a finger.

* * *

_The sound was deafening, like static that filled his whole head as he lay looking up at the sky._

_The world kept spinning._

_"You're doing ok Xander..." A voice whispered above the noise that seemed to consume him._

_It cut like a knife to the chest and the world around him stilled, the noise vanishing, only an eerie silence left in its wake._

_The shape above him had returned. It moved closer now, a large blurry shape that blocked out one of the suns as it moved back and forth between his eyesight. Still unclear what was going on the shape seemed to coalesce into a round object._

_The object smiled down at him. His left eye hurt as he tried to make the object out._

_"I'm not sure if you can hear me," the object, now a blurry, unrecognised face said, it's voice slightly muffled, but feminine. "But we would really appreciate it if you could keep your abilities from manifesting." It paused, as if waiting for an answer._

_Xander moved his head in a slight nod. It seemed so difficult to move that fraction of a millimetre up and down, at first he wasn't sure if he had nodded at all. But then the blurry face broke into a large grin._

_"Thank you..." The face turned away from him. "He's ready," the face looked down at him again. "Begin preparing his Anahata, I'll begin preparing Buffy..."_

_She disappeared._

* * *

"Buffy, are you ready?" Penny asked, standing above the Slayer as she lay down on the operating table opposite Xander's bandaged form.

"Yeah," she said, watching Coven members begin chanting as they prepared Xander's chest.

"Buffy, you don't have to do this," Roberts said, looking down at her. "We still have time..."

"Doc!" Buffy gave him a very Slayer look.

"Ok, ok..." Roberts visibly shook from the stare.

"He's new Buff," Willow smiled at her friend. "He doesn't know the Slayer version of resolve face yet."

"Well he better learn quick." She looked up at the redhead and Coven leader. "Ok, what do I have to do?"

"We'll knock you out," Penny held up an anaesthesia mask. "Then some chanting, some herbs, lining up the M.A.R. with your Anahata chakra, opening a transfer from the Chosen lifeline and into the cores. Then we connect both M.A.R.'s up to initialise a transfer," she held up a large, industrial sized silver power cable, the connector large enough to fit over the entire M.A.R. chest plate. "Simple."

"Simple, right..." She looked over at a tray that held the spell ingredients and the device they were going to put into her chest. "Big huge metal cylinder next to my heart... Kinda wish I had a bigger chest right now. Then again, I always wanted a bigger chest..." She looked down at her own cleavage then the device. "How are you gonna cut me open?"

"We're not." Willow explained at the Slayer's confused look. "The M.A.R. uses your Anahata, your chest chakra, to pass through your body and into your life force. Think of it as a bridge to the portal that is you. The M.A.R. technically will be in your chest and it will be a part of you, but only the chest plate will be in the physical world. The rest, the part that includes the core, passes into the mystical, where there is no physical body, only life."

"I'm gonna have a portal to the beyond on my chest?" Buffy looked up at her friend with a raised eyebrow.

"Something like that." Willow smiled down at her.

"Yippie?"

"We're ready," a Coven Witch bowed next to Penny and Willow.

"Ok, let's do this..." Buffy looked up, straightening her head and neck on the bed.

Penny moved the mask over Buffy's face and the Slayer visibly became tense.

"Don't worry Buffy," Willow reassured her friend. "I'll be here the whole time."

"Sorry," Buffy said through the mask, her voice muffled. "Hospitals, bad memories..."

Willow nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

"Deep breaths," Penny instructed. "Count back from a hundred."

"Hundred, Ninety-Nine," Buffy breathed deep, the gas tasted funny. She wasn't sure when, but something barely audible began to get louder in her ears. "Ninety-Eight, Ninety-Seven..." The noise was deafening now, a kind of static that seemed to make her voice echo as she counted. "Ninety-Six, N-Ninety-F-Fi..."

The world disappeared around her, replaced by the noise and spinning.

* * *

_He sat up with a jerk, letting out a gasp. His hand shot to his face, not wanting to be caught unawares again. His shoulders sagged as the lack of eye patch told him he was dreaming again._

_"Well that was a cliché way to wake up," a voice said behind him._

_Xander let out a sigh before turning around to look over his shoulder. Sitting on a large rock, playing with a stick, sat Warren. His clothes were still ripped in places, but he was healed, no visible blood or busted lip._

_"How do you wake up?" He shot back before standing, wiping the desert dirt off the seat of his pants and legs._

_"I don't," Warren smirked, waving his arms about. "I don't sleep, Ooooooo!"_

_"Funny."_

_Xander looked around them, they were in a desert; sand, rocks and the occasional shrub or gnarled wood of a long ago dead tree spanned out as far as he could see. The place looked familiar, but his tired mind failed to place it._

_"Yeah, goes for miles too." Warren answered his unasked question with a smirk._

_"Do you...?"_

_"Hey, your head buddy."_

_"I ain't your buddy." Xander huffed, turning his back on the nerd and beginning to walk away._

_"Oh come on!" Warren called out. "Don't be like that, stay, chat. I'll even let you sing!"_

_"No thanks." he waved half heartily over his shoulder._

_"Fine!" Warren yelled. "Don't say I didn't warn you!"_

_"You didn't!" Xander called back, looking over his shoulder, walking away from the nerd._

_"I'd watch where you're going Xander!"_

_"Oh shut the Fu-!" He turned back to see where he was walking and smacked his face into something hard._

_He staggered back a few steps, looking out at the vast desert in front of him, a hand cradling his head. He had hit something unseen. He tentatively reached a hand out and took a step forward, his hand touched some form of barrier. He hit it a few times, testing the strength of it before looking back at the nerd with a questioning look._

_"Yeah," Warren nodded behind him and the rock he was sitting on. He threw the stick he was holding over his shoulder. It sailed through the air a few feet before it impacted another barrier with a hollow *CLUNK* and fell to the ground. "It goes all around us." He pointed to his left. "There it feels like brick, the desert is painted on, you can see the paint peeling higher up." He gestured to his right. "Over there it feels like glass, all smooth. If you look close enough you can see outside and into an observation deck."_

_Xander turned back to the barrier. With his fingers he could now feel the grooves where the brick and mortar joined, it wasn't till a few seconds later he could make out the wall before him. The desert was painted on, what was once vibrant desert that stretched on forever, now was replaced by a mural on a wall, he could see the paint strokes the artist had made._

_He looked to his gloved hands. He was about to raise them, a command on his lips when a vision replayed before his eyes._

_"...We would really appreciate it if you could keep your abilities from manifesting..." A blurry female face asked before smiling down at him._

_"Right..." He lowered his hands._

_Warren stood up from his rock. "What are you doing? Bust us out!" He pointed at the wall. "Knock it down, time to go all 'It's Clobberin' Time'."_

_"Promised someone I wouldn't." He rubbed his eyes, they felt tired and hot, his left stinging._

_"Who?" Warren stopped._

_"I don't know..."_

* * *

_"Not again!" She growled, sitting up slowly._

_The warm flat rock she was lying on filled her with anger. She would not be a prisoner again. She stood, peering out across the void and the large fence before her and the observation deck she could see was beyond. With her height she could see perfectly over the handrail and past the information plaque that read 'Momma, the Great Hyena'. She frowned. This wasn't the same as her home on the Hellmouth._

_Across the observation deck she could see bars, a figure walking back and forth as he tested the metal that held him. A sign above the large cage read 'The Colonel! Solider, Commando, Spy, Hero!'_

_"It's a Madhouse!" The figure said shaking a bar. "A Mad-!"_

_"Colonel!" Momma barked._

_"-House..." the Colonel finished. He peered out of his cage, squinting his eye. "Momma, that you?"_

_"Yes," she moved to a higher rock to look out at the man. "Where Cub and Nerd?"_

_"Over there," the Colonel pointed to the side of Momma's habitat. "They're behind some thick glass."_

_"Are they ok?" Momma turned to the direction he had pointed. All she could see was a curved bit of glass, her position and the curvature making it opaque._

_"For the moment," he continued struggling with his bars._

* * *

_"You don't know? You don't know?" Warren yelled. "Break the glass!"_

_"No..." Xander said turning on the man. "Not only did I promise, but I'm not gonna let you goad me into setting myself on fire again."_

_"Oh, like I would do that?" He crossed his arms. "Again."_

_"Right."_

_Xander moved to the glass and peered out. It was hard to tell what was out there, it was dark, the light from the fake desert only lit up a few feet of the ground beyond the glass. A couple benches were lined up before the glass, obviously placed there so visitors could sit and watch them. Placing both hands onto the glass he cupped them around his eyes, trying to cut the glare to look out into the darkness._

_He could just see bars to his left, a figure he couldn't make out was shaking them, testing their strength no doubt. Directly in front of the glass, across an empty observation deck was the entrance to the large room beyond. It looked familiar to him, much like the fake desert he found himself in, but he couldn't place it. Slightly to the right of the entrance he could see a rail and then nothing. He assumed it was another habitat._

_He was in a Zoo._

_He let out a sigh before a small laugh escaped him._

_"What's funny?"_

_"Life." Xander said, turning around and leaning his back on the glass._

_"This isn't life," Warren looked up to the ceiling. "This is just an imitation. And a poor one at that."_

_"Guess we're stuck here for a while."_

_"You could bust us out."_

_"No."_

_Warren shook his head and sat back on his rock._

_"No, I think we might use this time more productively." Xander crossed his arms, something occurring to him now they were alone together._

_"How?"_

_"Well... I want to ask you a few questions..."_

_"Like what?" Warren huffed._

_"What was wrong with you?!" Xander yelled._

* * *

"Ok," Willow huffed, slowly lowering Buffy's M.A.R. into her Anahata. She raised her hands above the Slayers chest, painting symbols and runes in the air. "Join." She said, the metal sinking slightly to be flush with her skin.

The whole chamber sat two and a half inches in diameter and 7 millimetres raised above her flesh. The faceplate was made up of a metal and glass window, the metal crisscrossing over the glass to make the shape of a stylised B. The window showed the interchangeable core below. The core began to pulse slowly, dimly, with a red light that began to brighten and steady with the Slayer's heartbeat.

"We have a connection." Willow told the room.

"Prepare to join the two to initialise Xander's core." Penny instructed.

Willow nodded and took the large cable from the Coven Witch assisting her. With one hand she began to remove the faceplate from Buffy's M.A.R., the device giving off a small hiss of pressure as she gave it a quarter turn to unlock it. Handing the faceplate to the Coven Witch she lined up the cable and screwed it into the device, a quick sucking sound followed but a soft click told her it was in place.

"I have a hard seal." Willow informed the room, Penny repeating the same from Xander's table.

"Begin the transfer," Penny commanded.

"Share," Willow instructed the M.A.R., the cable shining red, pulsing slightly as life force began to travel from Buffy to Xander.

"Well done people," Roberts congratulated the Coven. "Now it's all up to them."

* * *

_She didn't know what she had expected._

_This wasn't it._

_Then again, she hadn't expected anything._

_Just a mask over her face and then she'd wake up all groggy with a new shiny hunk of metal that kept Xander alive in her chest._

_Standing outside the Hyena House at Sunnydale Zoo, was definitely not part of her list._

_Shouting from inside drew her attention. She recognised the voices, she quickly bowed under the caution tape and entered the building._

* * *

_"Wrong with me?" Warren pointed to himself._

_"Yeah," Xander pushed off the glass. "You are a genius." He held up his hands. "You can make things no one else can. Robots, freeze guns, invisibility rays, freaking jet packs! Why did you come after Buffy?"_

_Warren looked at him stunned._

_"I mean, let's forget all the flashy stuff and concentrate on your breakthrough project. April. You built a Sex Robot! A SEX ROBOT! Do you have any idea how many nerds, in how many basements all over the globe are trying to build one of those? And you built one in your dorm room! In your sophomore year of college too!" He waved his arms about. "She was a walking, talking, interactive being! She could carry conversations, granted they were always concerning you, but she could respond to people!"_

_Warren just nodded._

_"Now that alone could have made you a millionaire several times over. But no, you decide to go after Buffy! You have got to be the dumbest genius I've ever met." He began to pace. "And again, if we forget the sex part and just focus on the Robot... You could have sold it to the Military, the Government, hell, even the U.N."_

_"U.N.?" Warren looked at him confused._

_"The U.N. could have taken your design and deployed it in humanitarian missions." Xander looked at the man like he was an idiot. "You get the world's best programmers together, the best medical minds and you could've had an automaton that could go where Doctors can't, into diseased plagued villages, war torn countries, even natural disaster ravaged areas. With the strength April and the Buffybot possessed, you could have programmed them for search and rescue; bombed out buildings, mudslides, earthquakes, tsunamis, hell, even deep sea recovery!"_

_Xander paused for breath, he ran a hand through his hair as he paced in front of the glass. He was getting angry, he tried to calm himself, he really didn't want to pop a claw or shoot a repulsor by accident._

_"Once more, if we forget the actual robot as a whole and look at the parts..." He stopped pacing and stared at the man. "You could've helped people! Land mine victims, spinal injuries, returning armed forces, you could have helped people walk again. Amputees could have had their limbs replaced with the legs and arms you designed. People could have held their loved ones again, wives and husbands could have danced with their partners again..." He let out a sigh. "But what did you do? What did you do?" He shrugged, continuing to pace._

_Warren watched him, his own anger welling up inside him._

_"You decided to be petty and come after Buffy and why?" He now stepped closer to the man as he sat on his rock. "What had she done to you? Before April, she didn't even know you existed. Why try to kill her?!" He yelled, looking down at the man._

_"Why?" Warren laughed. "Why?" He shook his head. "Because she's the key to getting my life back!" He yelled, startling Xander. "It all comes down to her! Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We're puppets, dancing for the audience. And it's all her fault!"_

* * *

**Author's Note 2:** There you go. Many of the opinions expressed by Xander about Warren's actions are purely my own opinions and thoughts I've had over the years (and I also think Xander would think them too... But seriously, Warren could have sold his robot patents and become that worlds Tony Stark, Steve Jobs, or 'INSERT IMPORTANT FIGURE NAME HERE'.)

This chapter was longer but I decided to cut it here, and I'm still not happy with it in places (I think I'm just too inside my own head about this story). Recently I realised a way to make this story into a series, hopefully branching out into several fandoms. Only problem is I still don't have an ending for this story, just places and scenes I want to see.

I have a name for the acronym M.A.R., but thought I'd ask you guys, what do you think it stands for? If you can come up with something better I might use it and give you credit!

**Author's Note 3: **In my upcoming chapter 9 I describe some logos Xander, Willow and Jessie designed as kids, if anyone reading has any graphics background or skills and would like to read the chapter before I post it anywhere, I'm looking for someone who can make a manip or drawing of them and Xander and Buffy's M.A.R.'s that will be revealed over the next two chapters. My crude half finished version of Xanders M.A.R. can be seen in the story logo at the top of this page, that should give you some idea of where I want to go.

**Disclaimer 2:** Lyrics from 'The Roof Is on Fire' by Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three.


	8. My Eyes Are Open!

**Authors Note 1:** Here's the second half of Xander and Warren's argument. I've swapped over the Italics as this chapter happens mainly in Xander's head and it got difficult to read when I posted it on TtHfanfic.

Normal = Xander's head

_Italics = Read world_

* * *

Buffy recognised the voice and her heart almost stopped.

He was here.

"The failsafe..." She whispered, entering the observation room.

She paused in front of the large Hyena that barked at her, a sign before it read 'Momma'. Shaking her head she ignored the animal and walked passed an army looking guy who called out, reaching for her between his bars. She went straight to the large glass window and the two men beyond it.

"I broke out! Me!" Warren yelled, thumping his chest. "I opened the portal! It was right there, in a comic book for God's sake, anyone could have done it. All they had to do was join the dots, if they read it and understood it, understood the math... All it took was a few equations to fill in the blanks and an incantation of 'Breaking the Veil' and I made it through! I entered their world. It was amazing..."

Buffy watched as he yelled at Xander, her friend's back facing her. Warren turned his back on the man and unbeknownst to him, Buffy as well.

"They were real! Heroes swinging and flying around New York City. Everything Stan Lee had envisioned." He said in awe. "Then I saw it, I saw the truth. It was right there every Tuesday night! Was it the real world? Or was it make-believe? Are we real? Did I even exist before I met Buffy?" He stared at his hands. "I have memories of before... Or do I? If everything around you turns out to be false; touch, sight, smell, taste, sound, then are the memories false too?"

"Ah-erm...?" Xander shrugged at the man.

"Then there's the other problem, if you are false, fake, figments of a writers imagination, then what are they? It exists here, but they live there. It exists there, but we live here..." He said darkly, turning back to Xander before looking over his shoulder. "The same, but different, always different... You!" He shouted, noticing Buffy outside the window. He quickly moved around Xander and pressed his face against the glass, "This is all your fault! I want my life back. If I even had a life before you! You're the reason we're here! I kill you and I'm no longer their plaything! My actions are my own, not your Powers, not your Creator! Mine!"

Buffy took a step back at the outrage the man was exhibiting as he clawed at the glass, trying to get to her.

"Hey!" Xander grabbed the nerd by the scruff of the neck and pulled him back from Buffy. He let go and put himself between the glass and Warren. "Back off."

"Please," Warren scoffed. "If you knew what I knew you'd want her dead too."

"That would never happen, not in a million years." Xander said with malice in his voice.

"I guess not," Warren looked up at the ceiling. "Not while they're in charge," he levelled his gaze at Xander. "You think you control your destiny?"

"Yes," Xander replied sternly.

"Ha!" Warren laughed with a large smile that made him look sinister. "You don't, none of us do. And it's all because of her." He pointed at Buffy.

"Xander, what is he talking about?" Buffy asked with a voice that promised pain for the nerd.

"I don't know," Xander looked over his shoulder at the Slayer.

"Oh my god, Xander, you have two eyes!" Buffy gasped.

"Of course I do Buff, I'm dreaming right now."

"No, you're not!" Warren snapped. "Do you even think we're having this conversation? Do you think the thoughts in your head are yours too?" He poked Xander in the temple. "Ha, I bet you do..."

"He's crazy," Buffy concluded.

"I'm starting to get that." Xander nodded, staring at the man.

"We're puppets," Warren laughed. "We're not real!" He suddenly got a confused look on his face. "No... We're all not real, but me... Heh, it goes doubly for me... I can see the base code now..."

"Failsafe." Buffy stated.

"Huh." He stared at the Slayer. "He tried to kill you with a gun, didn't he," he nodded at her. "It didn't work, he miss?"

"Dark Willow pulled the bullet out of her and healed the wound." Xander informed him.

"Dark Willow?" Warren stared before something clicked into place behind his eyes. "Idiot actually didn't deviate... Why?" He asked, more to himself then the others. "Why wouldn't he deviate? We both saw the same outcome... It was stupid, the gun didn't work in the show... Yes, the orbs were the only thing that could power the Gloves in this world, but... But we found them, I know we did!" He looked off into the middle distance. "The gun wouldn't work, couldn't work. Otherwise someone else would have done it before... Only brute strength, the Gloves, the Gloves were the key! Hard to block a repulsor, hard to shake off a rocky fist, hard to stop Adamantium..." He rubbed his forehead. "Adamantium was meant to free me..."

"How you figure that logic?" Xander sniggered.

"Almost indestructible," Warren turned on Buffy. "Carve her up like a Sunday roast."

"Willow hunted you down and skinned you alive." Buffy said with venom, wishing the glass barrier wasn't holding her back.

"Ha..." Warren seemed to deflate, his shoulders slumping. "Of course. Whedon probably came up with that..." Buffy and Xander gave each other confused looks through the glass. "The Powers would be out of a job if their mealticket was suddenly killed off... Again..."

"Mealticket?" Buffy repeated.

"So he's dead huh?" He looked up at the Slayer. "And I'm still here? Attached to the Gloves he made? Still under their thumb?" He called out looking up at the ceiling once more. "What do I have to do for you to release me?" He raised his arms up in surrender. "Kill him too?" He levelled his eyes at Xander.

"Who is he talking too?" Buffy asked.

"No Idea..." Xander watched the nerd wearily. "But I don't like the look in his eyes-"

"My eyes are open! I've seen The Powers plans, I've seen the way they put words in our mouths and sculpt our actions. We are entertainment! Playthings! Actors pretending to be heroes and monsters!" Warren yelled, lunging at Xander, his hands moving to the man's throat. "Nothing matters! Just key strokes on a keyboard!"

Both men fell to the ground, kicking up a dust cloud as they tumbled in the sand. Warren sneered at the man, his hands wrapping hard around his throat. He squeezed with all his might. Buffy watched in horror as Warren over powered Xander as the lights flickered throughout the observation deck and habitats.

* * *

_Beeping._

_There was a lot of it as everyone stared in disbelief at the heart monitors. Xander's let out a high pitched shrill, informing the room something was wrong._

_"Oh no..." Willow gasped._

_Roberts took that second to start barking orders._

_"We're loosing him! Crash cart! Start chest compressions, ladies, step aside." He yelled to the Coven members assisting Penny._

* * *

"Xander!" The Colonel yelled.

"What happening?" Momma barked from her enclosure.

"They're tussling, Em," The Colonel answered quickly, straining against his bars. "Warren is winning!"

"No!" Momma growled.

She padded back and forth across the rocks and huffed to herself. She looked up quickly when she heard Buffy banging on the round glass, trying in vain to break though. Letting out a series of growls and huffs as if to psych herself up, she turned on the spot before running full speed at the void that separated her habitat and leapt to the guard rail and observation deck beyond.

"Bad idea, bad idea..." She yelled jumping the space and landing on the guard rail, the hard metal pole digging into her ribs, her back legs dangling and scratching at the wall as she hung on for dear life. Her front paws scrabbled to get some kind of purchase and pull herself up.

"Em!" The Colonel yelled. "Buffy, Buffy!"

At the army man's yells Buffy turned from her pounding on the glass to the man behind the bars.

"Help her!" He yelled, pointing to the struggling Hyena.

Giving one last look at the struggling Xander and Warren she turned and ran over to the flailing animal. She stared for a few seconds, not sure where she could grab the animal that wasn't going to pull out fur.

"Just grab me Slayer!" Momma growled.

"Sure thing 'Momma'." Buffy gritted her teeth, not wasting a second she grabbed two tufts of fur, one on each side of the hyena's neck and pulled. Momma let out a howl of pain, baring her teeth as she tried to ignore the hair being ripped from its roots.

Buffy pulled with all her might, scared the fur wasn't strong enough and the whole animal would fall, leaving her holding two big clumps of fur. So she was slightly surprised when she quickly fell backwards onto the ground, a large panting animal landing on top of her.

Letting out a gruff, "Thanks," Momma stood up, stretching her back. Her paws on either side of the Slayer's body she shook her head and neck than walked over her to the Colonel's prison. "Need help?" She smiled at the man.

"Hardy har-har..." The Colonel smiled back.

"I could leave you in cage..." Momma sniffed at him.

"Don't you dare Sweetheart!" The Colonel huffed. "I ain't to fond of being locked up, let alone separated from you."

"Mate no like being at my mercy?" She laughed before kicking in the large barred cell door with her back legs.

"I'm always at your mercy." He winked up at her, a feat hindered by his eyepatch and quickly walked out the now open doorway. As soon as he had moved into the observation deck proper a leather gun holster materialised on his hip.

"Are you seriously flirting right now?" Buffy sat up from the ground, stunned at their antics.

"Never a bad time to flirt Summers, but she's right," he turned to Momma. "Shall we save Harris now?"

"Yes!" Momma growled, both turning to run over to Xander's enclosure. Buffy stared at them both from her place on the floor. "You help Cub too, Tiny-Warrior?" She asked her.

"I'm not tiny," Buffy quickly stood, joining them.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." The Colonel said, pulling his weapon and firing it at the glass. The glass held, the bullets impacting and embedding themselves into the thick barrier. As they watched, the bullets began to dissolve and the glass repaired itself. "Sonofa..." He lowered his weapon to stare at the now perfect glass. Not waiting for the others he raised it again and emptied his clip into the large window. The glass still held its place, despite all the spider webbing cracks the bullets had inflicted.

"No!" Momma growled as the glass once again began to repair itself.

"Damn it!" The Colonel ejected the spent clip, fluidly reloading, slapping the fresh clip home and pulling the slide of his gun.

As the bullet entered the barrel and he prepared to fire again, a yell came from their side. Both Memories jumped slightly from the yell that was then followed closely by the sound of someone running. They turned just in time to see Buffy running pull pelt at the glass before diving into it. With a loud crash she sailed through, tumbling onto the sandy ground in the habitat and rolling to her feet. She had barely stood before she was throwing a punch at the attacking nerd. With a crack that sounded like it broke bone, Warren flew off Xander and landed several feet away. Buffy moved quickly, grabbing her friend by the collar, picking him up and throwing him in the direction of the now repairing window.

The Colonel was just making his way to the hole when his eye went wide and he quickly caught Xander, the pair falling backwards onto the observation deck floor. Both joined Momma in watching the glass repair itself again, sealing the Slayer in with Warren.

"No!" All three called out, Xander and the Colonel quickly getting to their feet to look at the window, Xander's voice horse from Warren's strangling.

* * *

_Normal rhythm returned, the monitor began to beep steady as Roberts called for the nurses to stop compressions._

_"Normal breathing sounds." A doctor called out as he listened to Xander's chest with a stethoscope._

_"Ok," Roberts nodded. "Good work people..." He sighed. "Willow, Penny, you and your girls can come back in." He called out to the operating room window. They quickly hurried in, each Witch moving over to a table and it's occupant, Willow to Buffy, Penny to Xander. "Care to explain what just happened?"_

_"We're not sure..." Penny said, not looking up from her inspection of Xander, her hands moving over the man._

_"Is it going to happen again?" Roberts asked, folding his arms._

_"I... I don't know, Willow?"_

_"She's ok, the transfer is still active." She looked up with a sad smile. "Xander?"_

_"He's alright too." Penny's hands were glowing again, a slight gold light shone from them that only seemed to land on Xander. "I can't explain why he just stopped breathing..."_

_"But the transfer is nearly over, yes?" Roberts asked._

_"Yes," Penny closed her eyes, feeling whatever her hands were telling her. "We can disconnect them soon, maybe a couple minutes..."_

* * *

Warren slowly stood, wiping the blood away from his split lip.

"You hurt Xander again and you'll get another smack from me, followed by a thorough boot kicking up your-"

"Oh, don't worry Slayer," Warren closed his eyes, moving his head from side to side in a very un-Warren like manner. His neck made loud cracking noises as he took a few large, calming breaths, rolling his shoulders. "I much prefer to fight you. After all, I like a woman who fights back." He opened his eyes again and began stalking towards her.

"You're sick!"

"I am how the Powers made me," Warren spat, arms out in a bow.

"I'm gonna enjoy this!" Buffy almost growled.

They both approached the other, their fists up, ready to strike. They circled once, then they both attacked. Warren delivered a boxers right cross, directed at her head, putting the full weight of his shoulder into the blow. Buffy ducked below the swing, her own right impacting the man in the gut. Warren took a step back from the blow but followed through with a left jab to Buffy's chin, the Slayer's head snapping back. Warren let out a small snigger of glee as Buffy's eyes went wide, not expecting the hit.

"What's the matter Slayer? Didn't expect me to know what I'm doing? Warren was a pretty good coder, I've got all types of upgrades..."

Buffy let out another growl and kicked out at the nerds head, missing by inches.

"Oh ho!," he got a look of joy on his face. "I think she might be getting angry..." Buffy let out another kick, Warren ducking out of the way again. "Don't tell me," He asked, catching a third kick and holding her leg, the Slayer almost doing the splits while standing. "I wouldn't like you when you're angry?"

"Probably not," Buffy took a breath. She closed her eyes before jumping on the spot, her momentum bringing her planted foot up to strike him in the side of the head. With the shock of the kick he let go of her other leg and she spun in the air, twisting to land in a crouching position. Not wasting time she followed through with a sweeping leg, the nerd falling hard onto his back. "People tell me I can be a little bitchy..."

She moved quickly, her arms coming down in a two handed hammer blow directed at his chest. His eyes went wide before he rolled away, Buffy's fists impacting the sand. She let out a growl of frustration that was met with a kick to the face, both opponents rolling away before standing to circle each other once more.

"Big tough Buffy..." Warren sneered. "No wonder you died twice!" He lunged forward, reaching for her throat.

"No more!" She grunted, slapping his hands away and punching him in the mouth.

"Oh, we all die sometime Slayer," he grinned, blood coating his teeth. "Even them!" He nodded to the glass where Xander and the pair of Memories continued to try and break through. "We aren't all lucky enough to get our eyes poked out! Wish I could have seen that episode..."

He threw a left at her head, Buffy ducked the swing instinctively, and moved right into his knee, connecting with her stomach. With the wind knocked out of her she staggered back, barely missing an elbow to her cheek. Panting, she kicked out at the man, her foot collecting him in the crotch.

"S-slayer..." He gasped, punching her in the side of the head, both staggering away from the other, each hunched over in pain. "Fighting dirty..." He held his crotch. "What will the Fans think?"

"Told ya... I could be..." She straightened up to her full height. "Bitchy..."

"Yes," he straightened too. "You did!" He strode towards her, his shoulders squared.

This time they matched swing for swing. Warren landed a right hook, Buffy spun with the momentum of the blow and elbowed him in his ribs. He smacked her with a backhand, she caught him with a right cross to the chin.

"Won't, Let, You, Hurt, Them, Any, More!" She grunted in between traded blows.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha..." Warren let out, specks of blood and spittle leaving his mouth as he fought back. "Just kill..." Buffy caught him with an uppercut, the force sending him flying from her. "Meeeeeeee..." He fell onto his back in the sand, blood leaking from various cuts and bruises on his face. He looked up at the ceiling, his eyes half closed. "What're you... W-waiting for!" He yelled, a smile on his face. "Let me d-die! Just let me DIE!"

"What?" Buffy looked down at him, her eyes not focusing on the broken man before her. She wiped a tickle of blood off her forehead and took in a few ragged breaths.

"I'm not real... Some failsafe I-I turned out to be..." He groaned. "A Copy of a Copy of a professional pretender... What's the point t-to it all.." He said with a shuddering breath. "We're a-all slaves... Failsafe's, memories, all characters on someone's paper... A-and I'm t-tired of it... So tired..."

"Buffy," Xander spoke up. "Forget him, please."

"Kill me!" Warren yelled, startling them all. He sat up, the blood and bruises Buffy had caused vanished in an instant. "Kill me or I'll kill you all!" He stood now, the picture of perfect health.

Buffy quickly backed away upon seeing his instantaneous recovery, Warren stopping at her scared look.

"What?" He felt his face, he smirked as he felt no injuries. "Well, better hop to then..." He growled, turning once again on the Slayer. He paused for a second as Buffy began to fade.

"Call Willow!" Buffy yelled, backing up from the nerd.

"Call Willow?" Xander pressed himself against the glass, willing himself to be able to cross the threshold. "How?"

"Call Penny! Call anyone! Wake up! They need to s-stop-" Buffy began to solidify before fading again. Her back hit the wall behind her, Warren now upon her. "I need..." She blinked in and out. "More time... Call Will-"

With a quick thrust of his arm his hand moved into her fading chest. For a second she seemed to solidify once more, a pained look on her face, Warren's arm in her chest, ending in his wrist.

"Call..." She gasped. "The connection... Help-" she sagged against the wall.

"Die!" Warren spat, his arm flexing.

Buffy let out a silent scream as she convulsed, her hands trying to grip the man's arm and pull it out of her chest. Her hands moved through his forearm as she once again continued to fade away, her body wavering in and out of existence before him.

"Gauntlets!" The Colonel yelled.

"Huh?" Xander looked up at the soldier.

"Iron Man Gauntlets." He yelled again, looking at Warren and Buffy, the man letting out a triumphant laugh. "Gauntlets, now!"

Xander raised his arms in front of himself and his hands and forearms changed till Iron Man's armour covered them. He carefully closed his hands into fists, each pointing at the ground, just in case he fired a repulsor. The Colonel let out a huff, opening a panel on Xander's forearm and placed a hand into the opening. After a second his whole body seemed to waver before their eyes, Xander almost jumped back from the action.

"Whoa... That's kinda... Tingly..." He said with a smile before looking about him. "Wait!" He called, raising a hand out to someone they couldn't see.

* * *

_"Ok, I believe that's enough time," Penny said, standing between the two beds, her hands raised and glowing above both their chests. "Xander's core should be charged, we can disconnect them and take them to recovery."_

_Willow began to unscrew the cable from Buffy's chest. It seemed to be stuck. She struggled for a few seconds before it clicked with a faint hiss and she began to unthread the cable. Buffy's body chose that moment to start bucking up and down slightly as if waking from a bad nightmare. Willow was so startled she jumped back from the Slayer before she recovered and continued to unscrew the cable with more vigour than before._

_"She's convulsing!" Willow called out to the room at large, a Doctor and Nurse moving to help hold the woman down._

_"Disconnect her!" Dr. Roberts called out, moving to her bedside._

_"What do you think I'm trying to do?" Willow gasped, struggling with the cable attached to the moving Chosen._

_As Penny raised her arms again, this time over Buffy to run a diagnostic of the M.A.R., the closest nurse to Xander let out a gasp, almost dropping the tray of spell equipment she was carrying. All eyes looked at the nurse before looking to where she was staring, frozen in fear. Xander's hands were laying flat at his sides, his fingers spread out as the Gauntlets appeared over his arms._

_"Oh no!" Penny gasped._

_Before anyone could do anything Xander balled the Gauntlets into fists and a compartment opened on his right arm. Light shone bright from the opening before solidifying, taking the shape of a tall man with greying hair and an eye patch. He had a hand on Xander's arm, right were the compartment opened and he looked around the room._

_"Whoa... That's kinda... Tingly..." He said in a gruff voice. "Wait!" He yelled, raising a hand as Willow quickly continued to disconnect Buffy. "Don't cut her off, not yet!"_

_"Pen?" Willow looked from the man to the shaking Buffy before her and then to Penny._

_"Willow, oh thank God." The army man deflated slightly seeing the redhead._

_"Do I know you?" Willow raised an eyebrow at the man._

_"It's not a demon. It's a car." He said looking at her with hope._

_Willow stared at the man, taking in his appearance, camo pants, army boots, green wife beater and dog tags... She was distracted for a second as Buffy's arm shot out, slapping her hands away from the cable. Then something clicked._

_"What does it want?" She asked quickly, her eyes watching Buffy._

_"Is this woman insane?" He said with a slight grin._

_"She's never seen a car." She played along._

_"She's never seen a car?" He smirked._

_"She's from the past." Willow cocked her head to the side, looking him up and down._

_"And you're a ghost..." He finished, looking around at the stunned medical staff and witches._

_"You can talk." Willow scoffed before adding, "Still taking a lot on faith?"_

_"Every little bit helps." He shrugged._

_"If you're quite finished?" Roberts stamped his foot, looking between the two and Buffy's shaking body. "We have an emergency here."_

_"Yes!" Willow and the Colonel both said in unison._

_"Disconnecting her..." Willow moved back to the cable._

_"No!" The Colonel yelled, reaching a hand out again. "Reconnect her, now! She needs more time."_

_"No, disconnect her," Roberts ordered the Witch._

_"No, you'll kill her!"_

_"Kill her?" Roberts turned to the man. "Who do you think you are?"_

_"He seems to be the spirit-" Willow began._

_"Memory." The Colonel corrected._

_"Memory," Willow nodded. "Of a soldier that possessed Xander in the past, I was turned into a ghost on the same night," at Roberts confused look she added. "We had been turned into our Halloween costumes."_

_"Yeah... Fun times." The Colonel smiled before turning serious. "Don't disconnect the cables. He's killing her..."_

_"Who?" Penny spoke up._

_"Warren," the Colonel said, his projection wavered a second as he turned to the Coven leader. "Don't ask me how, I'm just a grunt, but Buffy is in Xander's head, or Xand's in Buff's, or something, all I know is she was kicking the crap out of Warren and then she started fading." He quickly looked to where Willow still held onto the cable. "Whatever you were about to do, reverse it. Buffy needs more time, we had him in a cage once, but we caught on fire..." He looked to the bandaged Xander lying motionless next to him. "Just as she was fading she called out for Willow..."_

* * *

#I get to kill the Slayer, I get to kill Buffy!# Warren sang, doing a little dance with his feet as his hand squeezed the life from the Chosen. #I get to kill the Slayer, I get to kill Buffy!#

"Buffy!" Xander yelled, not paying attention to the Colonel next to him, his body shimmering. Tears were threatening to fall on Xander's face as he stood helpless behind the glass. "Bufffffyyyyyy!"

"Done!" The Colonel called out, letting go of Xander's arm.

Xander turned to the man before looking at his hands and willing the gauntlets to disappear.

"Did you get her?" Xander almost yelled.

"Watch..." The Colonel stepped to the glass, pressing his nose against it, trying to see what was going on inside.

#I get to kill the Slayer,# Warren continued. #I get to kill-#

"**OFF!**"

Warren flew backwards, away from Buffy, with such force that he impacted with the glass wall, spider webbing the barrier and falling to the ground in a heap. As the dust settled around him the glass was already repairing itself. Buffy herself collapsed to the ground gasping for breath, clutching her chest. She massaged where his hand had been and she looked up as someone approached her. A hand was held out and Buffy slowly reached out to take it, the hand feeling surprisingly strong, despite who it belonged to.

"Heard you need help," Willow pulled the Slayer to her feet.

"Something like that..." Buffy said, her breathing finally under control. "So it worked?"

"Transfer was almost complete when..." She turned to look at the glass and Xander and his memories watching from the other side.

"You didn't tell me this was gonna happen Wills..."

"We didn't know," Willow turned to the nerd as he lay on his back some distance from them. "Believe me, if I had known I would have been here from the start." She nodded to Warren. "So that's..."

"The failsafe, yep," she answered, both women moving towards him. "What about them?" Buffy nodded to the glass.

"Xander's previous possessions." Willow waved to the trio. "Wow," she said staring at the Great Hyena. "She's big..."

"Her name is Momma, or at least that's what the sign on her habitat said," Buffy explained. "I think the army dude and her are a couple..." She whispered quickly.

"Momma?" Willow stopped next to the dazed and sprawled out nerd on the floor. "I guess that's fitting for the leader of a hyena pack... If a little disturbing..."

Behind the glass Momma let out a low growl at the Witch's comments.

"Willow," Buffy placed a hand on the Witch's arm, her knuckles grazed and bloody. "You didn't tell me this would happen. That I could fight the failsafe or that it was this bad. He beat me pretty good, and he just healed himself..."

"I'm sorry Buffy, it never occurred to us, we couldn't even find where the failsafe was... But now that I see him, see his code," she paused, crouching down next to the dazed man. "I know why he hid him so well, why we couldn't access the failsafe..."

"Puppets..." Warren muttered, his eyes fluttering open for a few seconds before half closing.

"He's... He's corrupted." Willow stated, placing a hand on the man's face, a look of disgust on her own from being this close to the thing that looked like Warren. "I don't think it was meant to manifest itself like this..."

"Kill them..." He spoke softly. "Only way I can be free... Burn the house of Whedon..."

"Yeah, he went a little crazy with the babbling..." Buffy informed her friend.

"Something has been added to his base code, extra data that it couldn't handle." Willow stared at the program that looked so much like the man she killed.

"Like what?" Buffy said, a hint of curiosity in her voice as she peered down at him.

"I'm not sure..."

"Can you delete it?" Xander startled them both, his voice still muffled behind the glass.

"Xander!" Willow gasped, staring at his face. "Your eye!"

"I know Wills," he blushed. "Lucid dreaming... Can you delete him?"

"Y-yes..." She took in his face, a smile on her own at seeing her friend whole once more, then turned back to Warren. "But I'm not going to." Before Xander and Buffy could argue she continued. "He might know something about the Gloves."

"So these are Warren's creation?" Xander looked at his hands. "And what Andrew let slip in the Gym is correct?"

"Yes..." Willow stood up. "**SLEEP!**" She gestured to Warren and he fell unconscious. "He left them in your weapons chest."

"Our weapons chest?" Xander fumed. "If Buffy had... She could have-"

"Not our weapons chest, Xander, MY weapons chest." Buffy crossed her arms in a huff. "And I'm fine, just a little sore."

"Gloves powerful weapon," Momma growled. "Make you strong, strong like you use to be with me in your heart. Stronger with Gloves!" She nudged Xander's shoulder with her snout. "Use them to look after Mate." She said nodding to Buffy.

"Oh for crying out loud," Xander rolled his eyes, Buffy looked wide eyed at them both before tucking a stray hair behind her ear and looking to her feet. "For the last time Momma me and Buff-" he began.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." The Colonel waved the man to stop, sharing a knowing grin with Willow. "If you're not gonna delete him or whatever, me and Em are more then happy to watch over him." He cracked his knuckles, sneering down at the man on the ground.

"That won't be necessary." Willow raised a hand in front of herself, Warren's body lifted into the air slowly before her. "I'll take him away with me, put him somewhere where we can strip back the code, sort through all the information, mine any data he's carrying. Who knows, he might have the method of how he opened the portal..."

"Comic book, equations and a 'Breaking the Vail' spell," Xander rattled off, Willow stared at him. "That's what he said, not that a lot of what he said was coherent. He was yelling about the Powers That Be and everything being not real..."

"**OPEN!**" Willow waved a hand, the glass barrier shattered to the ground. She directed the floating Warren out to the observation deck, Momma snapped her teeth at the nerd, daring him to wake up. "We have theories about what he did to get to their world; that he stumbled upon a hell dimension, alternate reality, or that he just punched a hole through to another Universe altogether... But that last one gives me the wiggins..." Willow shuddered.

"Why?" Xander and Buffy asked in unison.

"You guys have been spending too much time together." Willow smiled. "If he somehow opened a passage to another Universe, then it's a problem two fold. One, other Universes are meant to be separate, we are not meant to meet the others, the knowledge... If they were to overlap, or even touch, say when a portal is opened between the two... Either or both could collapse entirely. Just wink out of existence." She clicked her fingers.

"Oh..." Buffy stared at the nerd.

"...Kay..." Xander added, scratching his head.

"And two," Willow waved her hand once more, chains manifested around Warren's hovering body. "The force needed to literally punch through could have dire consequences to untold other Universes that aren't even connected by the breach, but just happen to graze passed."

"Dire consequences Will?" Xander shrugged. "Can ya vague that up anymore?"

"People, places, random things just being sucked into other Universes. One second sitting in their home Verse, the next, *POP*," she emphasised with a click of her fingers. "Floating in the blackness of space, or deep underground, or the heart of the sun, falling in the lower atmosphere, embedded in the wall of a building, even the very spot were you're standing right now."

"Not good!" Momma huffed, the others silently nodding. "Good you take the maker, break him, turn him to yours..."

"We will," Willow nodded.

She turned away from the group and concentrated on the space before her. A yellowish green orb began to appear, floating in mid air beside Warren's chained form. With a smile she looked to Warren, then the orb before giving a quick nod of her head, motioning for him to get inside. The orb throbbed for a second, then grew in size to engulf the floating man. Once the orb had absorbed him it began to contract and shrink back to its original size.

Once it finished Willow reached out and plucked it from the air. She inspected it for a second, then threw it into the air, catching it. She did this a few times before smiling to the group and pocketing the orb.

"He's not getting out of there anytime soon." Willow informed them. "Now, you two," she pointed at the Memories. "I think it's time I finally got rid of you."

"What? Why?" The Colonel stepped in front if Momma. "I told you, we're memories, we can't hurt Xander."

Behind him the Great Hyena bared her teeth as she let out a low growl, the hair on her curved back began to stand up. "We protect Cub!" Momma snapped her teeth.

"Wills, they're not hurting me," Xander placed a hand in her shoulder. "In fact, if it wasn't for them I would be dead by now..."

"Huh?" Willow and Buffy said together.

"Hello?" The Colonel looked at the two women. "Graduation day? The homemade bombs? Troop tactics, commanding the students? Any of this ringing a bell?"

"Well..." Willow slightly flustered. "What about her?" She turned on Momma. "She can't be good for you Xand-"

"How dare you Witch!" Momma yelled, pushing against the Colonel, the army man gently holding her back.

"Easy babe, easy, she didn't mean it..." He soothed, patting the side of her snout and neck.

"I save Cub! Not you, me!" Momma leaned into the man's touch. "The Gloves only give shiny bones, I gave him sense, I give heal, make him Hyena again, not some little Wolverine!"

"You did that?" Xander looked at her.

"You healed him?" Willow asked.

"Yes!" Momma softened. "If it not for me, Cub be dead days ago. Not survive the metal, bones die, the fire kill..."

"Momma?" Xander stepped to her side.

"I never give you up after possession. I hid." She whispered. "Afraid of the nothing I came from, afraid I found out, and then... Afraid I lose mate," she looked to the Colonel.

"I knew it..." Buffy whispered.

"We looked after Cub, help heal bones after breaks, vanish bruises before pain, give energy to fight... Never enough to make her notice, but," she stared down Willow.

"I think I would have noticed." Xander cocked an eyebrow.

"Really?" The Colonel turned to him. "Cos how many people do you know who still have a working hand after a Troll God has crushed it, huh? Or the amount of times you've been hit in the head? Or the fact that even though you claim to be nothing special you still fought Vamps on a nightly basis back in Sunny D and always came out alive?"

"Luck?" Xander shrugged.

"Xander can fight," Buffy squared her shoulders, ready to hit the man if he kept talking that way about her friend.

"He can brawl," the Colonel corrected. "I know that Slayer," the Colonel sighed. "I ain't sayin' he wasn't competent, just that we gave him a little nudge every now and then."

"No matter now... Last of my power gone... Now I just memory too." She smiled, looking away from the group, a sad look in her eye.

"Em?" The Colonel watched her. "What did you do?" He placed a hand on her cheek.

"Give myself for Cub, gave her. Can't change." She looked him in the eye. "Solider, my powers gone. I stuck, never be her again, never be the one you..."

"Shhh," the Colonel leaned forward, his forehead resting on hers. "It's ok, I understand. I would have done the same thing for Harris. He's our Cub."

"Our Cub." She smiled sadly, the Colonel's arms moving around her neck to hug her.

Willow looked away from the couple, a look on her face as she made sense of the words Momma had said.

"We-We should be going," Willow turned back to the group. "Everyone is waiting to finish up..."

"Wait." Momma broke the embrace. "I want to speak with tiny Warrior."

"I'm not tiny!" Buffy almost whined.

"Right..." Xander and the Colonel smiled as they both moved away to talk.

"I'll give you five minutes, then I'll be disconnecting the transfer cable." Willow said, vanishing.

Buffy and Momma nodded, walking away a few paces before turning to each other and speaking in hushed voices.

"So..." Xander smiled at the Colonel. "You and... Momma?"

"Hey, I don't meet a lot of girls," he shrugged. "Your head can be a lonely place late at night, ya get comfort where you can."

"I know what you mean..." Xander turned to look at Buffy, a small smile on his face. "And hey, my head ain't lonely." He turned back to the Army man.

"It ain't exactly bursting with social gatherings..." He paused. "Besides today."

Xander nodded in understanding, looking back to Buffy and Momma talking. "So... How's that work? Was she always a Hyena? Even when you guys are-"

"No, she wasn't always a Hyena, kid," he huffed.

"Really?" Xander looked surprised. "Is she hot?"

"Watch it..." The man gave him a stern look. "And she was... Man, the body on her..." His face softened. "My African Princess."

Xander smiled, crossing his arms, both men watching the Hyena and Slayers exchange. "What are they talking about you wonder?"

"Not sure," the Colonel scratched his stumbled chin. "But I don't think it's anything good for you..."

"It never is..." Xander agreed. Each man continued to stare at the two fierce Warriors talking, a comfortable silence between the two men. Finally Xander broke it. "So, do you call her Momma when you two are-"

"Shut it!"

* * *

**Author's Note 2: **There you go, next up Xander finds out what they did to him and gets some training.

I really liked some of Warren's ramblings this chapter, I hope you did too. The comic book Warren got his portal idea from is an actual comic book, Ultimate Fantastic Four #21-23, the Crossover arc, the beginning of the Marvel Zombies series. Granted the portal is a teleporter in that arc and not a lot of detail is explained on how it works, but I'm going with artistic license here, especially seeing as the Ultimate Comics don't exist in my version of the Buffy Verse, instead I just assume the Marvel Zombies series does with the portal tech explained.

Please Review,

Tubbs McGee

**Author's Note 3:** Again,in my upcoming chapter 9 I describe some logos Xander, Willow and Jessie designed as kids, if anyone reading has any graphics background or skills and would like to read the chapter before I post it anywhere, I'm looking for someone who can make a manip or drawing of them and Xander and Buffy's M.A.R.'s that will be revealed over the next two chapters. My crude half finished version of Xanders M.A.R. can be seen in the story logo at the top of this page, that should give you some idea of where I want to go.


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